iWill Always Love You
by seddie4thewin
Summary: Freddie is back in Seattle and Sam is still in L.A.  Another Puckett wins his hand but just maybe his heart is still with his first true love. There will be Seddie - eventually, and some heartbreak and rough times for both of them.
1. Chapter 1

**I never thought when I first wrote a story that I'd ever do even a dozen, let alone so many. This is my 40** **th posted** **story. Honestly, I don't even know where some of these ideas come from but anyway. This one's been floating around in my head (and on my computer) for about 6 months now.**

 **And just a warning this one does not contain Seddie coupling until quite a way in, but hopefully it's entertaining the way things play out for them. And this is a dramatic story so beware there will be some tragedy at some point and a few bad words here and there plus the typical references to physical interactions between characters (nothing too graphic or any lemons - for now), but enough that I'm rating it a T just to be safe.**

The setup/prologue:

Five plus years after iGoodbye. Freddie has graduated from college and is now living back in Seattle working on his masters degree at the University of Washington. He has landed his dream job, designing software, working for the Pear company.

Carly is living in New York. She comes back to Seattle on occasion, but stays busy with her job at a New York fashion magazine so she has very little time for her old friends or her brother who has found a woman he is very serious about and intends to marry.

After Cat left L.A. to pursue her stage career, Sam quit baby sitting and took some classes at the local community college. She is now a teaching assistant at an elementary school in Los Angeles.

Melanie finished up her undergraduate work at NYU and took a year to travel in Europe. The Puckett sisters have actually become closer the last few years and talk or Skype on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, Sam and Freddie were never able to reconnect. With his attending college on the east coast and then moving back to Seattle and her job in L.A. they have little in common any more. Even still they are close friends, communicate regularly and have had the occasional hookup when their paths did manage to cross.

* * *

Chapter 1

Sam was on her weekly phone call with her sister and Melanie has just told her how she plans on returning to Seattle to work on her own post-grad schooling. Like Freddie, Melanie is a chronic over-achiever, at least in her sister's eyes. While Sam was content with a job that paid the bills, Melanie always wanted to challenge herself and go just one more step in her education and, consequently, career. Sam figured it was only a matter of time before her sister decided to become a doctor or something fancy like that.

"You know, I still can't understand why you want to be a nurse, Mel. Remember that time a few years ago when you came to L.A. and I was babysitting those twins? I asked you to change a diaper and you wound up puking in the trash can?. Well, that was a toddler, what's gonna happen when you've got to change some old lady's diaper that's been eating prunes or spinach or something? And I know how you always hide your eyes during slasher movies, what about if some motorcycle accident victim comes in with his arms almost ripped off or a tree limb imbedded in his chest? You'll pass out for sure."

"I'm going to be a nurse-midwife, Sam. I won't be dealing with any geriatrics or accident victims or gunshot wounds. I'll be helping deliver babies and making sure women take care of their health."

"Psh, like that's any better. You got all queasy the first time you got your period." Sam smirked at the memory. "And you told me what happened when you watched that video in health class in tenth grade. The same thing happened to Frednerd. We had to get the school nurse to give him smelling salts." Sam still smiled to herself at the memory of her friend blacking out and falling out of his desk.

"That maternity video was made before we were even born, it's just beyond gross. I swear they made the thing as nasty as possible so teens wouldn't even think about having sex. In fact, I'm pretty sure it turned a couple of girls in my boarding school off of guys all together because they were so afraid of getting pregnant. And I wasn't even twelve when I got my period, Sam. Thanks to our worthless mother not telling me about the facts of womanhood, I didn't know what was going on. Besides, a lot of women get dizzy and light headed around that time of the month, it's from lack of blood flow to their brain. It's a scientific fact."

"Heh. I know a guy or two that's tried that excuse, too." Sam cracked back. "No blood flow to the brain, just to their crotch."

Melanie just clicked her tongue at Sam's crude reference. Not that she was prudish, but she just didn't have that much 'experience' with boys and Sam always seemed to say things just to make her squirm. It was one of Sam's guilty pleasures.

"So you're really serious about moving back to Seattle, huh? Please tell me you're not planning on living with Pam are you? Believe me, you'll regret it. Oh, and I'd highly recommend a lock for your bedroom door. She staggered into my room more than once when she was drunk. One night she even took a wazz in my trash can because she thought it was the toilet."

"Only as long as necessary, until I can find a place of my own and I wish you'd consider coming back, too. I don't know if I can handle mom on my own and I won't know anyone here at all. Most of our friends from when we were little are long gone and even people I knew when we were teenagers aren't around anymore. It's not like I even knew that many of _your_ friends to begin with. Just basically Carly and Freddie and there was that odd chubby kid that always ran around without his shirt. What ever happened to him?"

"Eh, you makes friends easy. You'll be fine. Besides, Seattle's too damn cold in the winter." Sam had considered going back herself a few times, mainly to be near one person in particular. Somehow, she always talked herself out of it, though. "And I've got a pretty sweet job here. Regular hours, lots of vacation days, every weekend and all summer off. I mean, where else could someone like me get a job where I only have to work 180 days a year and still get a regular paycheck plus health insurance?"

"So, you mean to tell me you really _like_ working at a school? Now that's something hard to believe." Melanie chided.

"It's not really all that bad. I'm just a teacher's aide. I don't have to do anything hard. Make a few copies, help kids with their spelling words. It's kind of like baby sitting but with no diapers to change plus I get to go home at three thirty and forget the place exists." Sam certainly knew all the perks to her job.

"Oh, and I have to make sure the little boogers don't kill each other at lunchtime or on the playground. Man, there were these two girls got into a fight in the lunch line right before school was out last year, I thought the one was going to bite the other's nose off. It was so freakin' awesome, I hated to break it up. I'll tell you what, for a seven year old, that little girl was fierce. I bet when she hits high school she's in the MMA."

"Lovely! She sounds really familiar." Mel scoffed. "I just mean you always hated school and teachers especially. I remember how you made up all those obnoxious pictures of that one teacher you used to have and put her face on all kind of animals and stuff. What was her name, Miss Biggens or something?"

"Oh, you mean Miss Briggs. Man, I haven't thought about ol' pointy boobs in years. But she was a high school teacher. And basically she was freakin' nuts. Elementary teachers aren't that bad, especially now that there are security cameras in the classrooms and they can't get away with torturing kids like they used to. As long as none of 'em break out the bagpipes or look as freaky as Mr. Howard, I'm cool with it. And they all treat their aides like gold, basically because we do all the hard work for 'em while they lounge around the break room and compare stories about how 'bad' their students are."

Melanie suddenly remembered something. "Hey, didn't Carly tell me that Freddie was going to U-Dub for his graduate work since got a job at Pear? Maybe he'd be someone I could hang around with."

"Yeah." Sam's answer was short and Melanie knew she had hit a nerve. "I guess. Maybe."

Melanie had made no secret that she really liked Freddie when they were younger and rambled on for, literally, years after their date about how she kissed him and how much she wished she could go out with him again.

"I know you two have history, I just meant that he'd be someone who could show me around and stuff. At least he's someone I know, well kinda know. I haven't seen him since that time we went out years ago."

Sam rolled her eyes at her sister bringing that up again. Hopefully she'd outgrown the crush she had on him and not mention their kiss for the five hundred and tenth time. "The nub and I are just friends. If you want to hang with him, be my guest. I just hope his nerdish ways don't rub off on you, you can't afford to be any less cool, Sis." Sam joked to cover her real feelings.

"Are you sure. I thought you two had some kind of arrangement. Friends with benefits or something? That's what Carly told me. You guys have been hooking up since senior year in high school haven't you?"

"Yeah, well Carly has a big mouth sometimes." Sam couldn't believe Carly told someone about what she was told in confidence. "And yes, Freddie and me hooked up a few times, but I haven't even seen him since last summer when he came to L.A. on vacation and toured UCLA. I still think he'd have went there if he didn't get that job offer from Pear." Sam wished he would have chosen to live near her, she tried to give him a memory he wouldn't soon forget that week.

Still, Sam had to put up a tough front. "There's nothing exclusive between us. Mama doesn't like to be tied down. Besides there's this new technology teacher at the school that I've been flirting with. You should see him, he has the cutest brown eyes and he's a huge Cuttlefish fan."

"Are you telling me my sister has a boyfriend who's not Freddie Benson? Her first kiss, her first time. 'The only guy she ever loved' to use your exact quote. And yes, Cat told me about that one."

"He's not a boyfriend, we just had coffee a few times after school. But he's a decent guy. I don't really know if he's the relationship type, though. He's never really tried to make a move. He still lives with his mom for cheese sake. I think he's even into that larping chiz according to his Splashface page."

"Uh-huh" Melanie knew exactly what Sam was thinking. "A Galaxy Wars larper by any chance?"

Sam sighed. "I guess when I think of it he's kinda like Freddie."

"So you won't be all jealous and snippy if I hang out with Freddie some time? Just as friends, though."

"Hang out with him, kiss him, marry him for all I care." Sam huffed, she was getting mad at her twin and ready to hang up on her. As much as it pained her to admit it, Sam and Freddie just weren't meant to be and that fact tore her up inside. The simple fact was, she was happy with her life in L.A. and he had no plans on leaving Seattle and his dream job. There was just no point in deluding herself into thinking they could ever be together no matter how much she loved him and wanted to be with him, even though she'd never admit it to anyone else.

"Well, give me his number and tell him I'll call him sometime." Mel pleaded. "Just so I have someone familiar to talk to besides Mom. Please."

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." Sam snarked. "He'll drive you nuts in no time with his nubbing around and talking about sci-fi movies and model trains and junk. Just consider yourself lucky he gave up on the fencing thing. And God help you if he takes a liking to you and tries to be all romantic and stuff. What a nub."

"Oh yeah, sounds absolutely terrible." Mel cracked. "Who would want a sweet, attractive guy to act romantic or anything. How horrible. Heaven forbid he'd offer to give a girl a backrub, either."

"Eh, he's actually pretty good at that. But like I said, don't say I didn't warn you." Sam reluctantly sent a text to Melanie with Freddie's number and promised her sister she'd let him know Melanie would be calling him.

 **Alright, so this chapter got a little bit long because of the prologue and all. I'll try to post chapter 2 over the weekend.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Melanie

**I promised chapter 2 this weekend and this is about as weekend as it gets. Thanks for the positive reaction to chapter 1. Enjoy!**

Chapter 2

About a week later, Melanie made contact with Freddie. He was living with his mother, just like she was. But since he was a college graduate, Marissa at least allowed him to do laundry on his own, though he still wasn't supposed to use sharp knives. He had just finished loading the dryer, when his phone rang.

"Hello." Freddie answered the call, not recognizing the number.

"Hey, Freddie. It's Melanie." The blonde said cheerfully. "You know, Sam's sister."

"Oh, uh, hi, Melanie." Freddie responded, propping himself up against the machine. It took Sam nearly a two hour phone conversation to convince him she really had a twin sister. He then verified her existence with Carly and Spencer and even did some investigating online to ensure himself that he wasn't being pranked by his devious friend.

"Sam told me you'd be calling, I understand you're moving back to Seattle for your graduate work."

"I'm already here, I finally finished unpacking." She giggled. "I'm staying with my mother 'till my residency begins at the hospital."

"Yeah, Sam said you were going to U-Dub. You're studying nursing, right? I didn't know nurses did residency."

"I'm already an actual nurse, I'm working on my midwife certification. I got in on a program that helps me earn part of my degree by working hands on, plus it helps pay for it. I still have to do a good many classes, though. That's kind of why I called, I was hoping I could get you to show me around campus. I'm starting in a couple of weeks and I don't know anything about the place. Or anyone in Seattle for that matter. Maybe we could hang out sometime."

"Sure, Melanie. That'd be cool." Deep down inside, Freddie was just glad to have someone his own age to be friends with, especially a girl. He and Spencer had become pretty close over the years, but Spencer had his own friends and Freddie didn't exactly fit in with thirty-somethings; especially ones that were into different 'recreational' activities. He certainly never found anything attractive about any of the girls in his classes. At work, it was strictly against Pear's policy for co-workers to date. Most of his female co-workers were considerably older than him anyway.

"Do you want to maybe get together and get caught up?" She asked, kind of flirty. "I haven't been to Groovy Smoothie since high school. Maybe you're free this afternoon?"

"That sounds good. I just put clothes in the dryer, I have to stay here until they're done so I can take them out. I could meet you in, say about an hour."

"That sounds perfect. I need a little time to make myself presentable."

After the call ended, Freddie scoffed at the idea of Melanie taking time to look nice to go for smoothies. The Puckett girls might be twins, buy they couldn't be any different. Sam could hardly be bothered to put on makeup for prom, let alone going for smoothies.

A short while later, he entered the shop and found Melanie sitting at a table waiting for him. She was wearing a knee length gray skirt and a pink blouse with a denim shirt overtop. As usual, her hair was up high in her pony tail and she was wearing the perfect amount of makeup and obviously a little nervous.

"Sorry it took so long, I had to get everything folded after it came out of the dryer. I didn't want my shirts to get all wrinkly."

"That's OK, I just got here myself, I was on the phone with Sam. So what should we order?" Melanie asked after she hugged him.

"Well, I've taken a liking to the new Mango Madness flavor, but your sister was usually good with anything Peach or Strawberry. You know Sam, she'll eat pretty much anything as long as it's not green or too healthy."

"Hmm, I guess I'll try the Mango, too. Do you think we could maybe get some fries or something, I'm starving. You've maybe heard my mom's not much into the whole cooking thing. The only time there was actually food in the house since I moved back home was when I bought it and she ate it all on a drunken binge in the wee hours of Sunday morning."

"Yeah, Sam used to tell us how things were. I guess that's why she was always raiding Spencer's refrigerator." He chuckled at the thought of Sam's constant hunger. "She tried that at my place but since my mom's a big health food nut she quickly figured out that there was nothing in our kitchen she wanted."

Melanie just look at him quizzically as he continued. "To tell you the truth, that's why I usually eat out. A guy can only put away so much tofurkey or gluten free pasta. And don't get me started on the eggless eggs for breakfast. Oh, jeez, I didn't mean to insult you, you're not a vegetarian or anything are you?"

"No, who wants to hang out with a girl who eats nothing but salads?" She flirted. "I actually tried vegan the other year but it just wasn't for me. I guess the Puckett instinct to eat meat is just too strong."

The two ordered their food and drinks and took a seat while they continued their conversation.

"Yeah. Sam can sure put away the bacon. Or chicken wings or ribs. Pretty much anything that comes from a pig or a chicken. Or a cow for that matter."

"Heaven forbid Sam would eat anything that wasn't coated in sugar or deep fried. Hey, that's ironic, I just ordered French fries." She giggled. But, I swear my sister has the metabolism of a racehorse or she'd weigh three hundred pounds, the way she eats. I do try to eat healthy, but I have to splurge once in a while, especially when it comes to fried chicken or Chinese food."

Freddie tried to drop the subject of a girl he missed terribly. "So did you want to maybe go and look over campus some day? I've been taking an evening class over the summer since I work during the day until fall classes begin, but I'm free Thursday if you are."

"That'd be great. Would you mind maybe picking me up? I hate to be a pest, but I've been riding the bus because Mom's car is falling apart and I don't have enough saved up to buy one yet."

"Sure, Mel. We can even car pool when your classes start, too. Your mom's place isn't that far from Bushwell, I can just swing by there on my way to school. No use in you taking the bus if you don't have to. There are so many weirdos on Seattle public transportation it's not funny."

"Tell me about it. Just yesterday, there was this guy and he was rubbing his, um . . . know what, uh, actually, never mind. It was just gross. So, have you talked to Sammy this week?" Mel asked, just to feel things out.

"We've batted a few texts back and forth, but every time I have a few minutes to call, she's busy and she always tries to call me back when I'm either working or in class or studying."

"I know you miss her, Freddie."

"Sure I do, I kinda wish she'd move back to Seattle and I've hinted at it more than once. Thing is, I really didn't have time to go to L.A. this year, and I can't see myself moving there permanently. Especially since I got in at Pear. As much as I would like to try it with Sam, I guess we just can't make a go of being together. I know she was really bummed that I wasn't able to go see her this summer but I needed to get this one class in before the fall semester starts. It's really intense and there's so much homework it's not funny."

Mel realized Freddie was still as hung up on Sam as her sister was on him. It still didn't stop her from finding him attractive and the more time she spent with him the more she liked him. Before long, her flirting became more intense and Freddie found himself flirting back on occasion.

Melanie and Freddie spent most of their free time together. They would study together, hang out on the weekends and keep each other from getting bored when they didn't have school work. They tried dating other people a few times, but never got serious about anyone. It was like they both simply couldn't find anyone to suit their interests.

Of course, it didn't hurt that Melanie had liked him since the time they went out years ago and he found her to be a perfect copy of the one girl he always was attracted to, at least in appearance. Her personality was more like that of Carly or other 'normal' girls, but that was not always a bad thing. While he liked Sam's unpredictable side, he was a very down to earth person and always hoped he could find a way to tame the wild pony that was Sam Puckett.

Melanie never called him nub or made fun of his mother and certainly never did anything to taunt him physically like giving him wet Willies or wedgies. She even got along with his mother the few times they saw each other. It was a huge help that she was polite to the older woman, unlike her sister who seemed to take sheer delight in harassing her.

Marissa took a while to get used to the blonde but she soon came to realize the Puckett sisters were completely different and she was glad that her son was finally friends with a girl she didn't despise. She even got to the point of trying to encourage Freddie to ask Melanie out on a date. After all, if he went out with her it would certainly stop him from waiting around for Carly or Sam, especially Sam.


	3. Chapter 3 - Talking to Sam

Chapter 3 Talking to Sam

As he grew more fond of Melanie, Freddie decided it was time to have a conversation with Sam. He wondered if Mel really liked him as much as he thought she did, and more than that, he needed to make sure Sam wouldn't be upset with him if he decided to ask her sister out.

"Yo, nub, what up?" Sam answered his call personally for once.

"Hey, Sam. I'm surprised I didn't just get your voice mail." Freddie was nervous about even bringing this conversation up.

"Well, if you'd rather talk to it than me, I can hang up." She shrugged.

"No. I really did want to talk to you. We haven't talked in weeks."

"Is she driving you crazy yet?"

"Huh?" He questioned. "What the cheese are you talking about?"

"My sister. God, she's already got your mind all soft." Sam cracked. "I knew it would happen some day, Benson. They say crazy runs in families. I just thought you wouldn't go all goofy 'till you hit forty like your mom did."

"My mom was crazy long before forty." He sighed. "And Melanie's, um, Melanie's actually been great. Uh, really great. Couldn't be better, actually."

"Yeah, and I think she might have taken a liking to some guy the way she talks." Sam teased as Freddie was silent and Sam figured he wasn't catching on. "Some nub that works for Pear." He was still silent. "And goes to U-Dub."

All he could manage was to squeak out a "Really?", definitely not catching onto her taunting and wandering who she was talking about.

"You, doofus. Mel has a crush on you, you ding dong. You're all she ever talks about. How you help her study or how you haul her scrawny butt everywhere in your nerdy little car. She told me about having dinner with you and your mom and how she thought that stupid tofu and green bean casserole of Crazy's was the best thing she ever ate. She even got all jazzed up when you took her to see that new Galaxy Wars movie last weekend. Personally, I'd have put purple dye in your shampoo bottle for even thinking about it."

"Are you sure? I mean she flirts a little, but she kinda flirts with a lot of guys. She's a bigger flirt than Carly most of the time."

"Yeah, but she's serious about you. You guys should go out, really."

"Well, I don't know. I like her and all, but . . . " He couldn't just come out and confess his thoughts. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to take that leap with Melanie but knowing she liked him was helping sway his opinion.

"Freddie. Stop waiting for me." Sam cut him off, she knew what he was thinking. "We're a lost cause."

He tried to play innocent, even though Sam was right. "What do you mean?"

"Look, Freddie. I like you, I've always liked you. I'll even go so far as to say I love you, but if ever tell anyone I said that, I'll shave your head. And we shared a lot together over the years, our first kiss on the fire escape, we went to the junior prom together, you basically taught me to drive. Hell, we gave each other our virginity senior year."

He was silent as she continued. "Look, Fredbag. I know you're waiting for me but you're never leaving Seattle with your career at Pear and your nutty mom and all. And I'm happy here in California, at least for now. Maybe some day I'll move on, but I might end up in Texas or New York or something. You're one of my closest friends and I want you to be happy, even if it's not with me. If being happy means you're dating my sister, then you should go for it. And I want my sister to be happy, too. And apparently you make her happy even though I can't figure out why" She teased.

"Well, yeah, um, I . . ."

"Just keep in mind Mel's a bit prudish when it comes to the physical stuff and all. Sure, she flirts with guys but it's like we always said about Carly, she's like a dog chasing cars, she wouldn't have any idea what to do with one if she actually caught it. I doubt if she's ever even touched a guy's wenus. Let alone do the kind of stuff we used to do together."

"Well, I'd like to go out with Melanie, but I'm not sure . . . "

"What the chiz is there not to be sure of. You always wanted me to be more normal when we dated, right?"

"I - I guess. Normal is good."

"And Mels is about as normal as it gets. In fact, she's so normal, she's frickin' boring. She's perfect for you because she's just as boring and normal as you are. You two can even go on and get married and start a whole boring family with boring kids and get a boring dog and buy a boring house in a boring yuppie neighborhood. You two can live a perfect boring life with each other. You'll be so boring you'll probably put people to sleep that live beside you."

"Not funny, Sam."

"I'm not trying to be funny, dingus. Just honest. Mel likes you, you like her, so ask her out. What's the worst that can happen? Just don't eff with my sister's feelings or you'll have the whole damn Puckett clan to answer to, kapeesh."

So with Sam's blessing, Freddie began to seriously consider thinking of Melanie as more than a friend. He also began to think about how to ask her out.

* * *

After a couple more weeks of hanging out, studying together (even though they had different classes) and the like, Freddie finally got up the nerve to ask Melanie on a date. He had been trying to find the courage to do this ever since he talked to Sam and he was beginning to become afraid that if he soon didn't, she'd find someone else and he'd be alone again. After all, she was beautiful and had a great personality. It was a small miracle she was single this long.

"Say, uh, Mels. I was just wondering, did you maybe want to do something some time?" He asked nervously when they were leaving the library late one afternoon. "You know, just the two of us."

"We're doing something now, silly." She flirted, slapping his shoulder playfully. "You in the mood for a veggie wrap? I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm starving."

"I could eat, I'm pretty hungry myself. But I mean maybe something not school related, like see a movie or maybe go someplace nice to eat. You know, for more than just lunch or coffee."

"We've seen movies together before. Oh wait, you mean like a date or something?" She said in a shy, flirty way that he hardly picked up on.

"Uh, yeah, I - I guess. I mean if - if you want to. If you don't, it's alright. I don't want to make things weird between us. I mean, I'd like to take you out, but I don't want to ruin what we already have. Your friendship means more to me than just about anything."

"I thought you'd never ask." She smiled at him and took his hand. "I've really been hoping you would ask me out for some time now. But we both have to promise that no matter where it leads we won't ever stop being friends."

"Of course." He replied and they shared a friendly hug. "You're the best, Mels. You know, I've been thinking about this for a while and I never did get a chance to make up for that time I acted like a horse's butt with you when we went out to that dance club years ago. I guess I was kind of a spazz about the whole thing, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, kinda. But you were a cute spazz, anyway. Even though you bolted when I kissed you. I swear, I thought my breath was bad or something."

He just looked embarrassed.

"But, um, you did clear this with Sam, right? I mean, us going out and all. Carly told me about you guys having some kind of loose relationship going on. And we both know how hot tempered she can be. I don't want her to make a special trip back home to cut my hair all off or give you one of her famous Texas wedgies or something. If you guys are together or anything, I don't want to cause trouble."

He rolled his eyes at someone else knowing about their hookups thanks to Carly. "Last I heard from Sam, she was hot after some guy she worked with, Chip or Chad or something like that. But that was a few weeks ago. I guess we've kind of been losing touch lately, you know with my mid-terms and her work and all, we've both been so busy."

Mel nodded.

He sighed and made a confession. "And yes, I've hooked up with Sam in the past, but we haven't, you know, in a year and half. That's not gonna make you feel weird, is it?"

"No, it's just, How do I put this, it's no secret you guys have been physical with each other. I want you to understand that I'm not that kind of girl. I - I'm kinda waiting until I get married to, um, do _that._ Or at least until I'm engaged if I manage to find the right guy. Not that I'm against having fun and stuff, but there's just a line I'd rather not cross, if you know what I mean."

"I understand. I respect that, Mel. You know, I sort of felt the same way years ago. I guess I took that purity pledge deal from Sunday School pretty serious. But Sam, well you know Sam, she changed my mind."

They walked toward the campus coffee shop for a snack as he continued. "We were seniors in high school and she convinced me that no one should get their diploma if they were still a virgin. And after all that, we talked about getting back together, but then Carly left town and Sam, she moved away and we never did. But we really did miss each other, so every time we visited, it just sort of ended up with sex."

"That's Sammy for you." Mel snickered. "But you _do_ know it wasn't just about the sex with her, she really liked you. And I think she still does, actually. She really never talks about any other guys, except this Chad guy lately. That's why I don't want to come between you two."

"And if we didn't live in two different states, maybe Sam and I would be together. But we both know she has no plans to leave L.A. and I have school and my career at Pear, and then there's my mom. She almost had a stroke when I decided to go to college in another state. If I was to move to California, she's liable to go totally off the deep end." He reasoned.

"So as much as I've always liked Sam and I care about her, there's just no way Sam and I can, you know, be together as a couple. Part of me will always love Sam, but I need to move on with my life. Seriously, I'm almost 24 and I've never really had a real relationship."

Melanie smiled, planning to change that fact very soon.


	4. Chapter 4 - A Frelanie date

Chapter 4 A Frelanie Date

For their first date, Freddie took Melanie to the fanciest place he could think of. Mel was a little more refined with her eating habits than Sam and he couldn't help but remember how the "fancy" date with Sam played out. The two had their meal and talked for what seemed like an eternity before they headed for Bushwell to hang out a little while longer.

Freddie, of course, held the door open for Melanie and did all the other gentlemanly things he never did around her sister for fear of being kicked in the shins. Melanie was only too happy to have a guy treat her like a princess and took advantage of the romantic gestures, giggling or smiling at him constantly. To all appearances, they were a couple who had been together for months, not going out on a first date. The typical 'first date' nerves were replaced by the familiarity of hanging out with a close friend.

After their dinner they decided to go back to Freddie's to watch a couple of movies since his mother was out of town visiting relatives. As usual, they held hands when walking to and from the restaurant and into his apartment from the parking garage. Since Mel was wearing her hair down, Lewbert saw the blonde and cowered in his office, thinking it was Sam holding onto Freddie. The last time she was in Seattle she had threatened to do some unspeakable things to his manhood if he so much as talked to her.

The two settled in on the couch and before long had snuggled up closely, completely comfortable with each other. In truth, they knew each other better than either of them knew a member of the opposite sex, with the exception of Freddie's relationship with Sam. Several hours later, both had fallen asleep and they only woke when the movie ended and a loud infomercial for cookware began. Freddie stretched and looked over his shoulder at his mother's cuckoo clock, which read almost 3 am. Melanie stirred after that and headed to the bathroom before returning to the living room.

"Guess I'd better soon take you home, it's really getting late. Unless you want to stay. You can take my room and I'll just sleep on the sofa." Freddie suggested.

"I couldn't make you sleep on the couch." Melanie replied, shaking her head. "But I really don't want to go home this late. It's hard to tell what kind of guy my mom drug home tonight. And they're probably on the couch doing Lord only knows what. By the way, if you're ever in our house, don't sit on anything big enough for two people. Or that green recliner beside the TV. Well, just to be safe, you should probably avoid anything but the kitchen chairs. Oh, wait there was that one time . . . "

Freddie shivered at the thought. "It's not a problem, Mels. Go ahead and take my bed. I kinda like the sofa, really, it's like camping." He actually hated the thing, but didn't want to admit it. "It's more comfortable than a futon. Or the bed I had at college."

"Freddie. Listen. We're both adults and we've been friends for a while. There's no reason we can't innocently sleep in the same bed. Besides, I've got a confession to make. I've always wanted to sleep snuggled up with a guy and I know I can trust you not to try to force me into anything." She put her arms around him. "I've never met anybody I trust more than you. I think I really like you, Freddie."

"Awwww. I think I really like you, too Mels. A lot. We can share the bed if you think it would be alright." He was still unsure if this was a good idea. "I'm good with it as long as it doesn't make you uncomfortable. I don't want you to feel awkward."

"I'll be fine, Freddie." She smiled. "But I will have to borrow something to sleep in. Maybe, like, an old sweatshirt or something. This is a new outfit and I don't want to get it all wrinkled up. Besides, it's not really comfortable sleep wear if you know what I mean, especially this bra. I wish I had never bought the thing. It makes 'em look good but it's almost like some kind of medieval torture device."

He just laughed to himself at how fussy both sisters were about their bras. "Let's go see what we can find for you." Freddie turned off the TV and the lamp and led her back the hallway, very nervous for some reason. "Well, uhm, here we are. My room."

"I've been in your bedroom before, silly." She said as he approached his dresser.

Freddie opened a bottom drawer and dug to the bottom where he pulled out an over sized sweatshirt that he wore one time several years before when Spencer and Gibby talked him into a ski trip the winter the younger guys were seniors in high school. It was meant to be worn over other clothes so it was several sizes bigger than he normally wore and pretty long in the tail. Melanie held the shirt up in front of herself.

"How about these to go with?" She asked and reached into the open drawer. She took a pair of his old gym uniform shorts from high school. "Perfect sleep wear, sweatshirt and shorts. Doesn't get any better than this."

Freddie just looked at her funny. "Gym uniform shorts, really? I was going to donate those to Good Will."

"Well, I can't hardly go commando under this shirt. I mean, the tail's a little long, but it's not _that_ long." She giggled. "If it rides up, certain things will stick out. Things you aren't supposed to see, mister." She slapped his shoulder playfully. "And I'm sure as chiz not sleeping in this damn thong."

He just smiled at the thought of Mel in her underwear and directed her to the bathroom so she could change. "There should be a couple of new toothbrushes in the medicine cabinet. My mom insists that I use a new one every week. Help yourself."

As Melanie changed in the bathroom, Freddie stayed his room to do the same. A few minutes later, she returned to his side, ready for bed. Clothing that was a little big for him, literally swallowed Melanie's small frame, but she enjoyed the soft, warm sweatshirt. "I really like this shirt. Especially the fleece inside, it's so soft against my boobies." She wiggled around a little bit, rubbing her breasts on soft lining of the shirt.

Freddie blushed at the thought, remembering Sam saying something similar one time with his MIT sweatshirt. "You can keep it if you want." He suggested, pulling the covers back on the bed. "I haven't worn it years, and it looks good on you." He especially liked how it drifted off one shoulder, exposing her creamy-white, soft flesh. "But what doesn't?"

"Aww, you're so sweet." She blushed. "I might just take you up on that. Maybe I'll keep it here for when I stay over. And don't forget to brush your teeth." She ran her hand over his left cheek. "It's bad enough you're getting all stubbly, I don't want to wake up beside you with nasty ol' morning breath."

Freddie went to freshen up and the two soon snuggled into bed together. "Good night, Mel." He kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight, Freddie." She hesitated for a second. "But I think we can have a better good night kiss than that. This might have been our first true date, but it's not like we're strangers. We have kissed before."

She gently kissed his lips and laid her head against his chest before they drifted off to sleep. Melanie's kisses were far less passionate and lustful than Sam's, but still he enjoyed being so close to her.

* * *

The next morning, Melanie was awakened by the sound of someone feverishly knocking on the apartment door. At first she tried to ignore it, wanting nothing more than to snuggle under the warm covers with her head on the chest of Freddie, but soon the banging stopped and Freddie's phone began to ring which roused him.

He was afraid it was his mother calling to check up on him (or tell him she was coming home early) and reached to the night stand to pick up the phone before looking at the caller id. "Uugh! It's Spencer. I'll just call him back later. After cuddle time."

He pressed ignore and rolled onto his side and held the blonde tightly. With her hair down, Melanie reminded him of her sister and it was hard for him to resist the urge to start something physical. It had been a while for him and by now he and Sam would have been on round three or four.

Soon the phone signaled a text message and then another and another. "Geez, he's persistent." Mel snickered. "You should really just see what he wants. It might be an emergency."

"Everything's an emergency with Spencer." Freddie rolled his eyes and flipped onto his back to grab the phone and read the message. "He's asking if I'm awake. And he needs a bucket and a mop." He sighed. "I don't even wanna know why. And he's at the door. Good grief."

Melanie just made a weird face. She knew Spencer's destructive ways and tried to picture what damage he had done this time.

"Can you get the door? I'll get him what he needs from Mom's cleaning supply stash." Freddie suggested. "The sooner we get rid of him, the sooner we can have peace. Especially if we know Spencer's not going to flood this whole floor of the building."

Spencer was greeted at the door by Melanie, wearing the big, baggy sweatshirt, falling off one shoulder and hair all wild from sleep.

"Sam?" He questioned and moved in for a hug. "When did you get back to town?"

"It's Melanie." She stepped away from him and gave a stink eye. "Oh, um, but I guess, with my hair down and all, it's a little hard to tell." She ran her hands through it to try to tame things down a bit. "Sorry."

Freddie emerged from the kitchen with the requested bucket and mop to witness Spencer's wide eyed shock at catching Melanie there, having just rolled out of bed. "Here, Spence. I hope this does the trick."

"Thanks, Freddie. You're a life saver." Spencer turned and headed back across the hall. "Oh, uh, hey. Do me a favor and come on over after bit. I've got something I need to talk to you about. You know, man to man."

"Um, sure." Freddie immediately knew what Spencer was going to say to him. He just hoped Spencer wouldn't tell Carly about discovering Melanie there in sleepwear. Lord Knows, she hasn't been able to keep anything to herself lately.


	5. Chapter 5 - Guy talk & chatting with Sam

Chapter 5 Guy talk & then some

Spencer headed back to his own apartment to deal with his water issue and Freddie turned to Melanie. "In the mood for some more snuggle time?"

"You bet." The blonde responded, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him softly . "And maybe a back rub. No offense, but your mattress is a little hard."

"Sorry. My mom insists that a firm mattress is better for the spine. Maybe that's the case if you're forty and overweight. I swear , the first thing I do once I have my own place is get a decent bed. It's still better than the pile of lumps in my old dorm, though. It was kind of like sleeping on a pile of dirty laundry."

Freddie couldn't wait to get his hands on Melanie's flesh. He had to think about some very unappealing things to keep from getting aroused as she laid on her belly and exposed her bare back for him to massage, hiking the sweatshirt tail up past her shoulder blades.

Of course, after her back rub, she made sure to give him one as well and it became necessary for him to remain lying on his front for quite some time after having Melanie run her hands over his bare back while straddling his legs with hers.

After they snuggled for a while and shared a nice brunch together, Freddie took Melanie home with the promise of a movie date that night. When he got back to the building just after one in the afternoon, he stopped into Spencer's to see if the artist had cleaned up whatever it was he needed the bucket so urgently for.

"Hey, Spence. All clear in here?" He looked around, surprised that the place looked so intact.

"Yeah, it was just a toilet overflow upstairs. Nothing major." The older man announced coming down the steps, his pant legs rolled up, wearing no socks or shoes, causing Freddie to cringe. "Hey, do you know how to clean a Persian rug?"

"I'm not really sure, I'll ask around. You know what, um, just go ahead and keep the bucket and mop. I'm sure my mom would want you to have it. She has three or four more, anyway."

"So what's going on with you and Melanie?" Spencer motioned to the sofa for Freddie to have a seat. "I thought you guys just hung out and stuff I didn't know you two were actually dating."

"Well, to be honest, last night was our first official date, but I feel like we've already been together for months. I mean, we hang out a lot and we've done plenty of stuff together but last night was just the first time we actually _called_ it a date."

"And she stayed the night? You know if it was any other girl, I'd actually say that was pretty smooth, but I didn't think Melanie was the kind of girl to sleep over after the first date. I thought from what Carly says she was planning on waiting until she's married to have sex."

Freddie just shook his head at Carly's gossipy side. She was almost worse than Wendy. "It wasn't like that, Spence. It just got late so she stayed the night and _slept._ Nothing more, I swear. And my mom doesn't have to know about this, alright. Or Carly either for that matter. Mom would have a cow if she thought a girl spent the night in my room."

"Just be sure you know what you're doing by dating her."

"You don't have to say it, Spencer. And yeah I'm attracted to her appearance. You've seen the girl, she's absolutely gorgeous. And she's also smart and funny and probably the most motivated person I know. Ever since her and I started hanging out I've liked her and the more time I spend with her the more attracted I am to her, physically and otherwise."

"But what about Sam? Where does she fit into all this?" Spencer worried.

"Aw, Spencer. You know I love Sam but I can't keep waiting around for something that will never happen. She's in L.A., I'm in Seattle. And Mels is here too. An - and I really like her. I don't want to do anything to mess up my friendship with either of them, but I think what Melanie and I have is really something special and Sam understands that."

"Just please don't do anything to hurt Sam. You know she's like another sister to me. And she's really had a rough life, she's rally a lot more fragile than she lets on."

"I know she is and I've already talked to her and if I thought this was going to make her all weirded out, I would have never asked Melanie out in the first place. In fact, Sam sort of encouraged me to do it. Besides, she's been dating a guy from her work and it sounds like they really hit it off. As much as I'd like it to be me, I'm really happy for her. And I think she's happy for me, too."

Spencer simply nodded in understanding.

* * *

A year and a half and many, many dates later, Melanie had just finished up her residency program and had earned her midwife-nurse certification. She immediately got a job working on the obstetrics floor of Seattle General thanks to a glowing recommendation for Mrs. Benson, who was ecstatic with Freddie's choice of girlfriend.

To say the older woman got along well with Melanie was an understatement. Marissa looked at her like the daughter she never had and Mel looked at Marissa as the proper mother figure she never had in her life and bit of a mentor with her career.

Freddie was still working and taking classes toward his Master's degree but he knew the time had come to make things with Melanie a little more official. His first step would be to speak to her sister to make sure she was alright with it. He would never want to do anything that would end up hurting Sam.

"Hey, Fredwad, how's it going?" Sam asked when she connected to their video chat session. It was a little unusual for the two of them to chat alone, but he conveniently chose a time to contact when Melanie was working to reach out to his friend.

"Good, Sam. I hear you had a little spat with Chad."

"Yeah, he's been a real dick nuts lately because I wouldn't go to some stupid ass comic convention with him and dress up in a silver bikini like Princess Medusa or what the frick ever that chick in the movie is called that you nerds all have wet dreams about."

"Actually, she's the queen now. You see, in the last movie, her mother abdicated the throne and now she's called the queen of . . . " Freddie stopped when he saw Sam roll her eyes. "Um you know what, never mind."

"So what's up with you? I understand Mel spent the night again. I can't believe you guys have sleepovers in your mom's place. That's kind of effed up, dude and _me_ saying that is really a stretch."

"Yeah, it's still kinda weird for me, too. I mean, Mom's alright with it and all but I don't know, it just seems like we're still high school kids and we're doing something kind of sneaky."

"Well all you two are doing _is_ sleeping. It's just kind of weird that's all, it's not like there's anything to really be ashamed of. Mel's always bragging about purity and all that chiz. How any girl can be 24 years old, sleep beside her boyfriend a couple of nights a week and still be a virgin is beyond me." The part she left out was how being that close to him always turned her on.

"Actually, I think the purity thing actually got Mom calmed down when she realized we had our little sleepovers. Man, I thought she was gonna blow a gasket the first time she came home and caught us in bed together. Until Mel came right out and told her she was waiting until she was married to, well, you know."

Sam just scoffed. She found her sister's attitude toward sex to be prudish to say the least. "I just pity you, you've got to be pretty backed up by this point. How many cold showers do you take a week, dude?" She teased, well aware of Freddie's libido.

He shook his head in disbelief at her actually saying that.

The blonde wouldn't give up the taunting. "You might be going out with Mel, but I know you've gotta be hanging out with Mary Palm and her five sisters pretty regular, too."

"Sam!" He scolded. That's not really something I want to discuss with my girlfriend's sister. But we have done _some_ things, we're not totally celibate."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. She told me. The fancy finger work doesn't count though, Fredstud. If I remember correctly you are pretty good with then fingers, though. I just can't picture Mels letting you do that to her. I can't even imagine her getting a gyno exam as tight as that coochy of hers must be."

"Oh, God. You mean she told you about the . . . ?" He turned red. "How much did she tell you? Please tell me she didn't tell you about last weekend."

"Let's just say she said enough that I know you're still pretty quick on the trigger. And that you needed to change the sheets. And she needed a clean night shirt." Sam smirked.

"Well, as pleasant as discussing my love life with my ex-girlfriend is . . . "

Sam cut him off. "So when are you going to make it permanent with Melanie?"

"Huh? You mean, like, propose or something?" He questioned.

"Shhsh, yeah. I hope you know she's been waiting since before last Christmas for a ring, doofus."

"R-really?" He squeaked. "Are you sure?"

"Yup. And I think her going to third base just might be her way of letting you know she's ready for something more. You better put a ring on it before she realizes what a nub you really are." She teased him again.

"You really think so? Do you think I should say something to Pam first? You know, just to be proper."

"Nah. My mom could give a crap. Besides, you'd have to find her first. You two damn well better invite me to the wedding, though. And I don't want to end up wearing some dorky, froo-froo bridesmaid dress. I swear if there is any taffeta, you'll be the one wearing it, or pulling it out of your . . . "

He cut her off this time. "Y - you seriously think Mel will say yes?"

"I seriously think if you don't soon propose she's going to do it for you."

"Well, I was looking at some stuff online." He _had_ looked at rings.

Sam, of course, took a more vulgar meaning. "You mean like stuff with naked people? See, I knew you were spankin' it."

"Dammit, Sam." He huffed. "I wasn't watching porn."

"Suuure, you weren't. Neither was I, Fredwad."

 **Alright, I know the Frelanie is getting pretty thick, but stick with me, guys. It's all part of the ride. And yes, Sam is taking the whole 'losing the only guy she ever loved to her sister' thing a little better than expected, but she might just start having second thoughts. We are on the official countdown to the Seddie part of this story, so be on the lookout.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Frelanie Babies

**This will be the longest chapter yet. For some reason, I didn't feel like writing a scene for it so we're just kind of doing a quick pass over the wedding. I intended this one to be a set up to a bigger drama with Sam, anyway.**

Chapter 6 Frelanie / Babies

Ten months later, on Valentine's Day, Melanie and Freddie said their vows. Sam, of course came home for the ceremony as did Carly. While the brunette was ecstatic for the couple and even came back early to help micro-manage all the details of the wedding, Sam was a bit more aloof about the whole subject. Big, fancy weddings weren't really her thing and even though this one was modest to Carly's standards, Sam still thought it was too much fuss over something so simple.

She arrived only two days before the wedding and was more quiet than Freddie had ever seen her. For a while, he was bothered by her attitude, worrying if she was truly as happy for them as she tried to let on. He soon put the idea out of his mind when he learned that she had just broken up with her boyfriend of nearly two years and simply chalked it up to her typical Sam way of hiding her feelings.

In truth, Sam was bothered by how happy her sister and the only man she ever loved were together. Sure, she was glad for them in a way but she couldn't help but be depressed at the fact that she was now single herself and the only guy she could ever see herself married to was about to become her brother in law.

Her mother noticed the way she acted at the reception and gave her the typical advice 'the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else'. Thing was, she wasn't sure if the reference was to getting over her recent boyfriend or Freddie. Either way, she was determined that she would try to actually find a decent guy. The only trouble was, nearly every decent guy she knew in L.A. was either weird, in a relationship or gay.

Possibly her standards were just too high and she was comparing every one to Freddie. Maybe those online dating apps weren't such a bad option. Then again, there was that new custodian t the school where she worked, he was single and not too shabby looking.

More than anything, she wished for what her sister and Freddie had. One thing was certain, Freddie would never be hers and it was time to stop thinking that some way, some time, there might have been the thinnest shred of hope that they could somehow reconnect. If only there was.

* * *

Freddie went on to finish up his master's degree and soon was promoted to head a software development team. His hours got a bit longer, but is salary was very generous and he still had plenty of time to spend with Melanie. Of course, her job was also demanding, working in obstetrics meant working night shift or extra long days if someone else called in sick. After all, babies don't wait to be born until the hospital is fully staffed between 9 and 5.

One Sunday afternoon, the couple stopped by a real estate open house and found a place they loved. It was near a neighborhood where Freddie lived when he was young. Before they knew it, an offer had been made and approved and Freddie and Melanie were soon to be homeowners. It was a little longer commute for him than Bushwell, but it was a spacious, fully remodeled house, more than big enough to raise a family when the time came. Both of them were counting on having children, at least two, maybe three.

It took time for the paperwork and all, but in less than two months they had moved in and began this new chapter of their lives together. Their new home was two full floors, with four bedrooms and nearly as many bathrooms. The downstairs had a huge living room, a modest half bath, an adjoining dining area and a large, spacious eat in kitchen. There was a large room across the back of the whole house which would be their family/entertainment room once Freddie had equipped it with surround sound, a large screen TV and theater seating.

Upstairs were the bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. At the end of the hall, a passage over the breezeway led to a huge, unfinished room above the three car garage. A space Freddie had his eye on for a nice home office. For now, he would set up residence in one of the extra bedrooms, though. His job required him to spend time at home working on projects outside of office hours. It was really something he didn't mind and his schedule was flexible enough to allow his to do his extra work when Melanie was at the hospital.

A month before their second anniversary, Melanie had been feeling queasy in the mornings. After a missing period, she decided it was time to take a pregnancy test. She knew all the symptoms and they were certainly there. She and Freddie waited impatiently for the timer on his phone to signal their five minute wait was over the following evening.

"Freddie, are you sure you're alright with this? I know we weren't planning on a baby just yet. I just have a feeling it's going to be positive."

"Mel, no matter what we'll be fine. If we are having a baby, I'm happy. If we have to wait a little while, it's fine. We want to have kids and you know I'm definitely alright if we have to keep trying." He squeezed her hand tightly. "Trying's a lot of fun, too."

"You're so crude. But yeah, I like the trying part." She giggled. "But we're barely settled into the house; there's so much to do, you have your career, I have mine. You're still planning to finish your home office, we never even set up the theater in the family room. And I always wanted to have a vegetable garden. How can I bend around and work a garden if I'm all swelled up pregnant? We - we're not really prepared to have a baby." Melanie was panicking and on the verge of hyperventilating.

Freddie put his arms around her. "Hey, hey, listen sweetie. This is nothing a lot of other couples aren't worrying about right now, too. But you know what, no one is ever totally prepared to have a baby. You've always told people they have nine months to get their act together, right. We can handle whatever life throws at us, right?"

"I know, and I've had this conversation with more than one couple in my career, but I just didn't think I'd ever be the one who was so uncertain about it all." She held his hand and they stared at the clock winding down.

The phone timer went off and the couple looked at the test stick together. They were greeted by two thin, pink lines. They stood in their new bathroom and hugged for several minutes, knowing that before long, they would be parents.

"So who should we tell first, hun?" He asked. "We can tell your mom first if you'd like."

"Actually, I'd sorta like to tell Sammy first." She smiled. "If that's alright with you. We can tell your mom if you want, though. Pam can wait a little while, she's been hard to get on the phone lately anyway."

"That's a good idea, we can tell Sam first." He agreed. "We owe her a video chat anyway."

They told Sam a few hours later and she promised to come home for the baby's birth, even though it tore her up. As if them being married wasn't painful enough, this was the icing on the cake. She just couldn't get past the idea that now they weren't just going to be Freddie and Melanie, a married couple; they would be the Benson family, complete with child.

Sam had been together with her current boyfriend, John for almost a year and even though he had a few habits that Sam wasn't fond of, she thought they had a future together.

"Hey, Sam." Melanie answered her sister's call, a couple of weeks later.

"So? Did they tell you if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Sam asked.

"No, it's still a little too soon, and I told you we weren't going to find out. Remember?"

"Yeah. Seems kind of old fashioned." Sam sneered. "I'm going to find out as soon as I can."

"Well, that's up to you, but Freddie and I just thought it would be more exciting to . . . Wait, what do you mean, you're going to find out as soon as you can. Sammy, is there something you forgot to tell me?"

"Um, yeah. Well, this is kind of funny. But you remember how I got that rally bad cold a while ago because some sick kid at school sneezed in my face?"

"Sure, you lost your voice and everything. They gave you that high dose antibiotic because you had bronchitis."

"Well, you know how they say that stuff kind of messes up birth control."

"Sam!" Mel squeaked. "Are you serious?"

"Yep. I went to see my doctor after work today. She said I'm about seven weeks along."

"Seriously? I'm only ten. They confirmed it with the ultrasound." Mel was excited. "Like, if I go a little late and you go a little early, our kids might even share a birthday. This is so cool."

"Um, yeah. I - I guess." Sam sounded worried.

"Why do you sound so weird? Aren't you happy?" Mel questioned.

"It's just, well, you know I've told you how John drinks sometimes? I just wish he'd take it easy with the booze and be a little more mature. He's a decent guy, bu - but I don't know if he's really the guy for me. Maybe the baby thing will help him settle down a little. I hope. "

This was the same defense a lot of women made for guys they weren't 'sure of'. Melanie knew this thought process never ended well.

"So, don't you think the time to think about that was before you went and did _that_ with him? Unprotected?" Mel's attitude of pre-marital sex was never a secret.

"Mel. Don't judge me! It's not like I'm screwing every guy I know. He's only the third dude I've ever done it with. There was Freddie, you knew that, and then Chad, but it was only like, a couple of times. Honestly, I don't think he even likes girls the way he acted most of the time. And obviously I've been with John. Maybe we can make it work out. They say kids help settle guys down."

"Sam, are you really sure? I've seen plenty of women have that attitude and it's not really all that simple."

Sam just sighed.

Even though she wasn't married like her sister, Sam began to hint about marriage after the baby was born and life quieted down a little. John barely took the hint but did get her a promise ring with the simple intent of pacifying her into not talking further about the subject. One thing was certain, a formal commitment to the blonde was not in his plans.

He moved in with her after she found out she was expecting so they could save their money for baby things and they at least appeared happy together. The biggest problem was his drinking and when he was drunk, he became a different person. He was even fired from his job as school janitor after being visibly drunk one day. Sam was mad at him for letting himself get into this situation, but she still stood by him, for the sake of their baby if nothing else.

He was never mean with Sam but she saw him get into several bar fights since she met him and she knew that he definitely had a dark side which emerged from time to time. Some would say it was his red hair that made him fiery. Sam just said he had a sort fuse and could go from zero to asshole in four drinks or less.

Now, with the baby on it's way, he found himself working multiple jobs just to pay his share of the bills and falling deeper into a cycle of depression and drinking just like Sam's own father did. Sam did her best to help him through his troubles, but it was just wishful thinking on her part. Even though he stopped the hard alcohol, he could still put away a fair amount of beer and get just as drunk, which was nearly every time he had a day off.

A short while into her pregnancy, Sam had some complications. Despite being put on bed-rest for another month, she had a miscarriage and fell into a deep depression herself. She avoided alcohol to keep from turning into her mother, but cried herself to sleep alone more than one night while her boyfriend stayed out drinking himself deeper and deeper into despair. With no baby to complicate things, he had thought about leaving Sam, but never did because he had no where else to go.

Sam, too, had thought about making a change, even possibly going back to Seattle but she decided to stay in L.A. with the job she was happy with and the boyfriend she had now deluded herself into thinking cared for her.

 **For some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to write that Sam had another guy's baby.**


	7. Chapter 7 - Trouble for Sam

**Don't worry, the Seddie is coming.**

Chapter 7 Trouble for Sam

Sam and Melanie talked frequently after Sam's loss. Mel's knew from her training that this was a bad situation for a woman to be in and combined with John's drinking, Mel made it a point to contact her sister every day, even if it was just to say a few words or at the very least to send an email to make sure things hadn't become ugly. The young Mrs. Benson worried not only for her sister's fragile state, but that one day things would take a turn for the worse and Sam would end up on the receiving end of John's aggression.

"So how's everything going today?" Melanie asked when Sam answered her video chat request.

"Aw, Christ, Mel. He got fired from his job at the dock this morning. The manager said he couldn't let him drive a forklift if he was under the influence." Sam shook her head. "And I'm not even sure what he was under the influence of because he sure didn't smell like alcohol."

"Oh, Sammy, can't he see he needs some help? Is there any way he can get into one of those programs like Mom was in the other year?"

"We tried that, Sis. I even went with him to the meetings for a while to be supportive, but I went to the bathroom one time and when I came out he was gone. He finally showed up the next afternoon, that's when he got canned from the job as a road crew flagman. He almost left a guy drive off the end of a bridge that was closed for repairs."

"I think you need to give him an ultimatum, Sam. Either the booze goes or you do. You don't deserve this. You can certainly do better." Mel judged, worried about her twin.

Sam knew she could do better. She damn near had. "I guess." She sighed. "Maybe it's true what they say about girls growing up and finding a guy just like dear old dad." Sam remembered what a loser their father was. As soon as the words came out, she regretted saying them to Melanie.

"Excuse me! Freddie's nothing like Dad and you know it!" Mel snipped and glared at the image of her twin's face on her laptop. "I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have a man like him. Why would you say shit like that?" Melanie's hormones had her a little edgy and more aggressive. Ironically, Sam had become more passive and quiet, more like her sister since her miscarriage. "Just because our dad was a deadbeat loser and your guy can't even hold down a decent job, doesn't mean _my_ husband is a jerk."

"Alright, take it easy ol' girl, I take it back for you guys. You're right, Freddie's a good guy and you're lucky to be with someone like him that loves you and works so hard. You're the exception to the rule."

"Alright then." Mel quickly forgave Sam with a smirk. "Damn right we're the exception."

Sam had to make a confession to her sister. "It's just, honestly, I wish I had never left him go. As always, you're the smarter one of us. I should have just moved back home when you did. I could be the one married to Freddie and happy instead of shacked up with some drunken, asshole loser."

As much as she wished her sister was away from the situation she was in, Mel was glad there was so much distance between her sister and her husband. She knew that since becoming pregnant, their love life had become almost nonexistent, and testing her husband's fidelity with the only other woman he had been intimate with wasn't something she was interested in.

Deep down, she knew Freddie would never cheat on her, but she also knew that he, as well as Sam, harbored feelings for one another. He admitted so years ago and there was no reason to think anything had changed. Mel doubted that either would ever act on those feelings, but they existed nonetheless.

* * *

Several weeks later the twins were on another video chat. At first, Melanie thought Sam and her guy were finally getting things back in order, but soon found otherwise.

"I can't talk long, Mel. I've gotta get ready for work." Sam said as she applied some eye makeup, using her laptop's camera as a mirror.

"I thought you'd have the day off because its Saturday." Melanie questioned.

"I have a day off from the school, but I'm working late shift at the diner. I need to pick up all the extra time I can get, the car insurance is due and we're still about a hundred bucks short on rent for this month. Saturdays are a good tip day, too."

Mel knew Sam was a little on edge about money for some time now. "Sammy, I can . . . "

Sam cut her off. "I've already told you no, Mels. I don't need a handout from you and Fredward, this is something I need to take care of myself. We'll get caught up, you'll see. I just need to make sure we get back on track with the rent before we end up living in a cardboard box that's all."

"What about John's job at the car wash?"

"I guess I forgot to tell you the other day, um, that really didn't work out."

"Oh, no. Don't tell me." Mel gasped. "He got fired again."

"At least he wasn't drunk this time, he just got into an argument with some old guy about a scratch on the bumper of his stupid, gawdy BMW. I actually don't think it was John's fault at all. Even the manager said it looked like a shopping cart hit it in a parking lot or something. But he didn't have to pick up the old dude by his suspenders and shove him into the trunk of his car like a sack of groceries. That's actually what got him fired."

"Geez, Sam. How is he not in jail for chiz like that? That's assault. This is what, the sixth job in a couple of months for him? He's just drifting from one crappy job to another and letting you pay everything. How are you guys even buying groceries? "

"They're called credit cards, Mel. And actually, it's his seventh job. He didn't even last a day at the tire store. That time he was shit faced drunk. He even admitted to taking a wazz behind their dumpster when he thought no one was looking. The manager saw him on the security camera, though. He was just lucky some little kid from that day care across the street didn't see him or they could have arrested him on exposing himself."

"Aw, Sam. I wish there was something I could do for you." Mel pitied her sister and the situation she was in but Sam was too proud to ask for help. "Just let me send you a check."

"Not necessary, sis. Like I said, we'll get back on track. John promised me he'd quit drinking and go to the meetings. He hasn't missed one all week. Everything will be better this time. He's actually looking for another job right now."

Melanie was still worried about her sister. "It sounds like he's got a pretty hot temper, he isn't rough with you is he, Sam?"

"No. Never. He'd better not pull anything either or I'll break out the butter sock. I don't care if he is a foot and a half taller than me. I've taken down bigger guys than him."

"I know you can take care of yourself, but if you ever need to get away, you know we're here for you, right. I don't want to see you get into a situation like Mom was in with that bus driver when we were in third grade. I still remember her black eye and the way he had her shoulder dislocated."

"Well, Uncle Carmine took care of him, didn't he?" Sam remembered the incident, too.

"Yeah, and then he spent five months in jail for going to the guy's house, breaking his leg and setting his car on fire. All I'm saying is, if you need to get away, I want you to call me, alright. You can't do everything alone. You have family and friends that care about you, Sammy."

"I know Mel, I know."

* * *

Sam knew her boyfriend was not getting any better, no matter how much she wished he was or he promised he would. He'd quit drinking for a few days or a week and then fall off the wagon and be worse than ever. Of late, he had seemed to lash out violently at others, even when he was sober. There was the car wash incident and that time last week in the grocery store parking lot with the woman in the mini-van. He followed her into the store and threatened to slash her tires for cutting him off at a stop light because she was on her phone. Not to mention that time with Sam's boss from the diner. John called and cursed her out for making Sam work a double shift when one of the other waitresses called in sick.

Their relationship wasn't the healthiest but she convinced herself that she still had a future with him so she stuck it out. He had given her a promise ring when she found out she was pregnant, but never made good on the promise to make a commitment to her, instead he kept stalling saying he needed to get his life cleaned up before they took their relationship any further. In reality, he had no intention of settling down and he had only given her the ring to shut her up. Somehow, deep down inside she seemed to know that, but she wouldn't admit it, even to herself.

A few weeks later, John fell off the wagon and went missing for almost two days and Sam was worried sick. She almost thought he had simply up and left her. When he finally returned home, Sam was mostly relieved to see him but still angry for his disappearance and needed answers. She had almost made up her mind to leave herself, but decided better of it. That was, until things suddenly took a turn for the worse and she quickly changed her mind.

"So where have you been? Your boss called here four times yesterday. The last time, he said I was to tell you not to bother coming in if you weren't there by seven this morning. And I'm guessing you weren't since its not even noon and you're home. Jesus! You smell like a brewery, too." She tried to be calm, but it was difficult.

"Awh, I'm sick of that scrawny little ass hat." John barked at her, and flopped down on the sofa. "And what right does he have calling here looking for me and harassing you? Fuck him and his gay little hybrid car."

"Well, congratulations then. You've screwed up another job." Sam threw her hands in the air, standing in front of him. "We need both of us working to pay the bills, you do know that right? The rent's due in two weeks and the credit union keeps calling about your car loan. They're coming to pick it up if you don't make a payment by Friday. Where's that money coming from? I made the last two payments for you and I have nothing until I get paid next week. The credit cards are maxed out and we can't even afford cable any more."

"You know what, Sam. I'm sick of this shit!" He jumped up, grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "I don't need you riding me about money constantly. I know we're broke. What the hell do you want me to do rob a goddamn bank? I have considered it, you know."

Sam was beyond fed up with it all and shoved him back away from her. "Of course I don't want you to rob a suckin' bank. I want you to get a freakin' job and keep it! I'm working two jobs and supporting your dumb ass. I'm not the one that's been fired too many times to even count. Get over your shit, lay off the booze, grow up and be a man. Life sucks, fasten your seat belt."

Before she knew what was happening, he slapped her hard across the face. "Bitch!"

Not being a girl to take physical abuse from anyone, Sam shoved him back hard, out of her space, and he fell right onto his butt. "Do that again and I'll stomp cut your goddamn nuts flat. I will not be your punching bag! You know what, you can just pack your shit and get out! Asshole!" She held her bruised cheek and glared at him.

 **I PROMISE, Sam and Freddie will have contact the next chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8 - Sam & Freddie reunited

**Before we get to the story, let me be the first to say "I called it!" Waaaay back, over six months ago, the very first time it was announced that Nathan Kress was going to be on Game Shakers to supposedly tell the world who Freddie liked more or ended up with, I proposed several theories by which our old buddy Dan would weasel out of making the 'Creddie or Seddie' call. What happened on the show (not going to spoil it for those who haven't seen it because the episode was actually pretty decent) was my #3 scenario. Most of us know who we feel it was, but apparently good ol' Dan is still on the fence! Keep milking that cash cow, Danno!**

 **Now, on to the next chapter.**

Chapter 8 Sam & Freddie reunited

Sam knew she was dwarfed by this mountain of a man, but her anger and her unwillingness to show any weakness shadowed the part of her brain that was telling her to run for her life. One thing was certain, she was not going to go down without a fight.

She had seen her mother abused by more than one man and she was well aware that her own dad had a dark side which came out by times. The unfortunate part was that Sam had absolutely no back up, not even a weapon she could get her hands on and being tough as nails could only buy her so much of an advantage over this big guy.

John jumped up and before she knew what was happening, hit Sam square in the face; this time with his ham-sized fist. "Don't you ever tell me what to do, you skanky blonde bitch!" Several blows were exchanged and Sam managed to get in a few good hits, but she ended up being picked up and tossed across the room like a bag of dirty laundry. She was pretty sure he'd end up with at least a black eye, maybe even a broken nose, but she was getting the worst end of things.

After landing on the kitchen table, she now found herself lying in a corner among broken chairs and a now one legged, bifurcated table. She had blood running from her nose and lip and, more than likely, a couple of cracked ribs.

John walked up to her and she prepared for another strike or a kick to the guts, but instead he reached down and jerked the ring he gave her months before off her hand violently, pulling her finger out of joint in the process. A hand already hurting from punching him.

"You're a pathetic excuse for a woman and a worthless piece of trash just like your slut mother, you know that?" The ring was then bounced off the far wall in their apartment. "You don't deserve to wear a fuckin' ring, you don't deserve anything other than an ass beating."

By now, Sam was scared for her life and in horrible pain but her adrenaline had her ready to kill as well. Rather than fight any more, an option that would likely end up with her in the hospital, she decided to call for help. She had a firm grip on her phone, preparing to call the cops, but before she could dial the device, he grabbed it from her hand, threw it on the floor and stomped on it as hard as he could several times.

"Who you gonna call now, you miserable cunt." He taunted. "You know the most pathetic part, at least I only messed up a couple of crappy minimum wage jobs, you couldn't even carry a frickin' baby, you gigantic slut. It's probably because you've got some kind of disease, don't you? I swear if you gave me the clap or something, I'll kill you, you bitch! You're not fit to marry. Hell, you're barely fit to screw and you haven't even done that in months. Good thing you've never tried whorin' 'cause you're not even a decent lay. When I get back, I want you gone."

"This is my apartment, bitch nuts!" She tried to stand but couldn't from the pain. "You get out. And stay out!" She screamed at him.

"I want you gone! " He repeated and turned toward the door. "Next time I have to say it, you're going to be sorry." With that, he stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him, leaving Sam crying and bloody, with a throbbing hand as she heard his car speed off on the street two floors below.

Sam's heart broke for the third time in her life that day. The first time was when the true love of her life married her twin sister. The second was the day she lost her baby, several months earlier. Now, she cried for the pain this horrible man was causing her. By nightfall, Sam was gathering her things and preparing to head out of Los Angeles.

Fortunately, the urgent help clinic wasn't busy and it only took a few hours to get her finger injury set and her bruised and battered hand bandaged. The nurses at the clinic insisted that she report the domestic abuse so, reluctantly, Sam called the cops to report the incident and gave a statement. As she suspected, they did nothing to help her, because she struck him as well. The police officers who came to the apartment simply recommended that she stay away from John and not let him in, except to gather his things. She was told to simply call them if he hit her again.

'Yeah, great plan.' She thought to herself. 'It took them almost an hour to get here the first time. I could be dead before they show up.' Fortunately, John was on a drunken bender and didn't return to cause her any more grief.

There was only one thing to do in her mind and that was to get far away from the whole situation. It took her most of the night to gather everything she cared about and have it all piled by the door to be carried to her car after daybreak. Sam tried to sleep, but her fear only allowed for short cat-naps. Every time she heard a noise outside she peered out the window to see if John was about to return and cause her more trouble.

First thing the next morning, she stopped at the school and handed in her resignation. Her next stop was at a pawn shop to sell the ring she found under the sofa where it landed the day before and a few other things to raise some cash. She dropped by the diner to hand in her work clothes, collect her final pay and say good bye to her boss and the other waitresses that she had made friends with.

Sam finally had pulled together enough money to make the trip, shortly after noon, she filled her gas tank to begin the drive north. She didn't want to leave California, basically she loved living in L.A. She had many happy memories there of her time with Cat and their adventures together. She knew she would miss her job at the school and her friends but she reserved herself to get away from everything and make a clean start. The only place to go was back home. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she needed the sanctuary her sister could provide.

It was just before nine at night when Sam arrived in Sacramento, stopping only for gas and the occasional drive through window food all day long. She found herself at a cheap motel to rest and spend the night. Even though it was getting late, she called Melanie to make sure it would be alright to stay at the Bensons' for a short while until she got on her feet. She knew Melanie didn't like surprises any more than she did and stopping in unannounced was definitely not an option.

"Hi, Mels." Sam greeted, trying to sound normal, when her twin sister picked up the phone. Mel was up late watching TV while Freddie was working on their nursery. "Sorry for calling so late, I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Sammy! I was getting worried, I tried to call you a bunch of times today, but the phone went right to voice mail. Everything OK?" Mel went on to explain what they were doing up at that time.

"Yeah. Um, about that, I sort of got a new phone." Sam said quietly.

Mel knew her sister was hiding something from her. "Why?"

"My old phone got a little janked up so I picked up a new one a little bit ago."

"Couldn't they transfer your number and stuff?"

"Nah, I just picked up one of those cheap, throw away phones at an all night gas station."

"Alll riiight." Melanie was getting more suspicious by the minute and her twin intuition was starting to kick in. "You're scaring me Sam. What's going on?" She knew Sam was hiding something from her and she noticed the phone's area code was different than Sam's usual number. "Where are you, sis?"

"I, uh, need to ask you something, Melanie. Do you remember the other week when you said if I ever needed to get away . . . ?" Sam's voice cracked and Mel immediately knew she was on the verge of a breakdown.

"Oh, Sam. What happened?"

"It got really bad yesterday, Mels. Things were said, blows were exchanged. Basically, I - uh, well, I'm in Sacramento right now. Would it be alright to come to Seattle? Just for a little bit." Sam's voice faded. "You know, to stay with you. I'd check with mom, but since she sold the house and hooked up with that race car driver last year, I never know where she's living. Last I heard from her, she was some place in Minnesota or something but we don't really stay in touch."

"Of course. Of course. I told you there's always a room for you here, but more importantly are you OK?"

"Meh, I'll live. I got hit harder by girls in juvie when I was in middle school." Sam tried to put up a strong front but soon left out a sigh that left Melanie know she was hurting something fierce.

"We could have come down to get you, you shouldn't be driving alone." Mel worried. "We still can, Freddie took a few days off work so we could finish up the nursery, and he won't let me lift a finger. We can just hop a flight and ride up with you. The nursery can wait."

"No. That's not necessary, Mels. Besides, you're almost eight months pregnant, you shouldn't fly. It's not safe and we both Fredbag would pass a stone if you even suggest it. By the time you guys make the drive down, I can just be there. Plus my car's kind of full. I didn't know I had so much chizz."

"Well, Freddie can fly down by himself, then. I'm sure he can hold a box on his lap or something. Or - or find a post office and mail something. You need someone there with you. Where are you staying?"

"Seriously, Mel. I'll be fine. I'm a big girl. Just chill, will ya? I'm going to get some rest and head out in the morning. I should be there by this time by tomorrow night if I don't get held up in Portland." The last thing she wanted was to be a bother to anyone.

But Mel was just as stubborn as her sister. "Sam, you shouldn't be driving alone. Now where are you? And don't simply say Sacramento. Give me the address or something."

"I'm at some dive called Skyline Motor Inn. It's right next to the airport. I guess that's why it's so cheap, the planes fly right over the joint. And it kind of smells like Mom's old house, like cigarettes and cat piss, though I can't imagine a self respecting cat living in this kind of a hole."

"Text me the address. I'm going to talk to Freddie right now. He has a friend at work whose wife is a big shot with one of the airlines, they're always bragging about how they can hook us up anytime we want to fly. I'm sure she can get him a ticket and he can be there right away."

Sam knew better than to argue with her sister about this. Besides, she really did want some company. Not that she wanted anyone to see her in the state she was in. Still, a friendly face would be nice.

The next morning, just before daybreak, Freddie got out of a taxi and approached room 14 of the hotel Sam was supposed to be staying at. He knocked at the door but there was no answer, he knocked again but still got no response so he called the phone number Melanie gave him for Sam.

After over a dozen rings, Sam answered half-asleep. "This better be good. You know what time it is, dip nuts?"

"Sam. You want to let me in, please?"

"Freddie? Y - you mean you're the person who's been pounding on the door?" Sam was relieved to hear a friendly voice. "I was afraid it was some hobo or a drunk. This is kind of a seedy place."

"Yeah, I sorta got that."

She swung the door back to greet her ex-boyfriend/brother in law. The first thing he noticed was her swollen cheek and cut lip. It had been less than two days since the beating and she still looked pretty bad without makeup to conceal the damage. "My God, Sam!"

"Pathetic, ain't it? Got another souvenir, too." She held up her bandaged hand for him to see.

 **So, Sam+Freddie+cheap hotel room** x **fragile emotions = ?**

 **And remember it's just a story, so we're not actually delving into the legal ramifications of someone just walking off from a lease, not serving out 2 weeks notice with a job, leaving half their stuff behind, etc. I think they established in both series that Pucketts don't get too excited about legal stuff, credit ratings or wazzing off their boss.**


	9. Chapter 9 - The hotel room

Chapter 9 The hotel room / Melanie's problem

Freddie just stared at her for a few seconds and touched her cheek. Sam winced away in pain. Never in a million years did he ever think he would see Sam Puckett in this condition. His gentle touch gave Sam the shivers, for years she longed for his touch. If only she could act on the feelings she was having right this second.

Thoughts of her lips against his filled her head, but she quickly pushed those feelings down deep. She couldn't think that way about him any more. He was married to her sister, for cheese sake, and about to be a father. Damn her sister, damn them both for dropping this temptation at her feet.

"Well, get your nubby butt in here and lock the door." She gave him that familiar look. A look he missed for years. Without thinking he stepped forward and pull her into his arms for comfort. It only took a few seconds for her to wrap her arms around him, break down and cry again, her head lying on his chest. "I'm sorry, Freddie. I don't like you seeing me like this."

"It's OK, Sam. It's all going to be better, now." He rubbed up and down her back. "I promise, it's all going to be better now."

After managing to get the door shut and locked, she put her arms around him again. "I missed you so much, I'm just sorry you have to see this."

"Can you tell me what happened? I know he hit you, but are you alright?" He asked as she pulled away the second time and searched for something to dry her face.

Sam remained silent for a few moments and made a grimace in pain as she sat down on the edge of the bed closest the door and motioned him toward the other. It was a room with two double-size beds, a desk, a dresser and a bathroom, nothing more. "At least I'm in better shape than the table I landed on." She smirked. "Ungh. I think I might have cracked a couple of ribs or something, though. And my whole hand hurts like a bastard. Dude's got a jaw like a cinder block, let me tell you."

He simply nodded, allowing her to continue.

She sighed and did just that. " What's there to say? The prick tried to get rough. I got in a couple of pretty good hits but he got the drop on me or I'd have kicked his butt into next month. That and he's like, 6 foot 6. If I'd have only had my butter sock handy, he'd be the one with the busted ribs, I can promise you that." Sam tried to put up a tough front but on the inside she was scared that she would never be able to trust anyone ever again. Fortunately, one of the only people she still had any faith in was staring her in the face.

He reached over and took her hand as a gesture of comfort. The look she gave him made his heart skip a beat. Her blue eyes shined in a way that he missed so much, despite the tears, and it was like his heart was being torn into shreds seeing her in such pain.

She seriously considered simply sitting on his lap and asking him to hold her, to make her forget it all. His next words snapped her back to reality.

"I'm so sorry, Sam. Whatever you need, Melanie and I are here for you."

Sam was brought back to Earth by the mention of her sister. "I'm the one who's sorry, Fredward. Mel shouldn't have chased you down here to hold my hand. I told her I was fine. I don't need an old boyfr, um I mean my sister's husband to take care of me." She pulled back from him. "I'm an adult, it's my mess. I made it, I'll fix it."

"It's not a problem for me, Sam. You've been my friend for years, I'd do anything for you. And you know how Melanie is when she gets something in her head, the devil and all can't change it. Besides, she's right. You should have someone with you. You shouldn't be driving alone. It's not safe. Are you sure you didn't get a concussion or anything serious."

She simply shook her head. Not knowing what else to do, Sam made a suggestion. "So, uh, you wanna grab a nap before we head out? It's way too early to be awake. I figure if we can head out by eight or so, we'll be back in Seattle this evening. And do you mind if we stop for breakfast before we get back on the road. I saw a waffle hut a couple of blocks over and haven't eaten anything decent in, like, two days."

Freddie wasn't opposed to the idea of getting a nap. From worrying about his old friend, he had only managed to sleep a little on the flight and it had been a long time since he rested properly due to waiting on Mel's every need in her condition. "Sure, Sam. Whatever you want." He stretched out on top of the covers, without even removing his jacket or shoes. If his mother ever saw him in a place like this, she'd disinfect him for a week.

"Scooch over." She poked at him with her knee. "That mattress is lumpy." In truth, she didn't want to sleep alone, but she could never say that to her sister's husband. "And the pillow smells like old gym socks."

Freddie put his arm around the young woman to comfort her and Sam turned to her side and laid her head on his chest, just like she did years ago. For the first time in many days, she was finally able to rest comfortably. Unfortunately, it was in the embrace of her brother in law. "Thanks, Fredbag. I guess I owe you one."

"Goodnight, Sam." For Freddie, rest didn't come quite so easily. He beat himself up inside for the feelings he was squelching while his 8 plus month pregnant wife was at home waiting for his call. He wanted so badly to press his lips to Sam's and make her troubles disappear. He wanted to feel her touch on his skin, to see her gorgeous body, to lie in the bed with her and touch every square centimeter of her flesh, to make love to her and make all the bad that happened to her over the last months disappear.

At eight-thirty, the two woke and began the final leg of Sam's return home. Sam showered quickly and dressed while Freddie had a quick shave and freshened up his clothes. While they waited for their breakfast in the restaurant, Freddie called Melanie and let her know everything was alright and they would soon be getting on the road.

The car ride was silent for a while but soon they began to talk about all kind of things. They discussed Carly and her soon to be husband, Spencer and how he got a job teaching art at Seattle Community College and what Cat had been up to with her stage career. They talked about Melanie's career and the latest inventions Freddie was working on for the Pear company and how he had already received two promotions since working there.

* * *

Despite her attitude in her teen years, Sam had actually become a decent housekeeper, having learned to keep after things while living with Cat. Melanie and Freddie had bought a brand new house not long after their marriage and Freddie was having a hard time keeping up with the housework, the cooking and the gardening to help his wife since she was, in her words, 'ready to pop this kid out any minute'. Of course, he insisted Melanie couldn't strain herself and risk her own health or their child's. It was only natural for Sam to fall into the role of their house keeper.

At first it was a little uncomfortable for Sam to see her sister and the man she loved since she was a teenager together, but she did her best to ignore her feelings and just be happy for them. More than anything, she was just glad to be away from L.A. and forging a new destiny for herself. She was also able to bond with Melanie in a whole new way while her sister was in the final stages of pregnancy.

Sam looked for her own apartment for a while and tried getting a job of her own but Melanie always insisted it was nice to have her help and persuaded her to stay with them. Their house was big, bigger than two people and one baby could ever possibly need. There was plenty of room, so Sam didn't feel like she was intruding and she did enjoy spending time with the baby more than anyone thought she ever would. He helped heal the pain of having lost her own pregnancy and Sam gradually drew out of her funk and became their built in nanny.

Though she resisted, Melanie and Freddie helped Sam pay off her bills and get back on her feet financially after walking off from a lease and living on credit cards for months. Freddie even arranged for a moving company to go to Sam's old place and pack up all her remaining stuff and transport it to Seattle.

Melanie, of course, returned to work as soon as possible after her baby was born so they needed help with child care, which Sam gladly provided. Melanie's income and Freddie's salary at Pear ensured that they were able to pay Sam just like they would any live in care provider. This meant she didn't have to get any other type of job and gave the new parents the peace of mind that their child was getting the best of care without having to entrust him to a stranger.

Even Freddie's mother was impressed at how Sam had become so domestic and how she took perfect care of the baby. In the years since Marissa had seen Sam, she had become more like her sister, who the older woman dearly loved, and less like the smart-mouthed hooligan she remembered from when Freddie was younger. The family soon got into a routine of Sam taking care of things around the house and spending weekdays with the baby while his parents worked and Mel and Freddie taking over on the weekends so she could have some time to herself and relax, time which Sam usually spent in her room by herself, watching movies and playing video games.

Though her sister encouraged her to try to find someone and even tried to set her up a few times with guys she knew from work, Sam was hesitant to date. She somehow never felt she was ready, especially after the terrible ending to her last relationship. A few guys she met at the gym or walking at the park had even tried to ask Sam out, but she always declined, saying she would worry about dating later.

* * *

Just before their little boy's first birthday, the family was settling down for the evening, the baby was long since put to bed and Sam was watching TV in her room as she frequently did. Melanie was in the shower while Freddie was propped up on their bed, working on his laptop, just finishing up a few work emails. Melanie came out of the bathroom, with a towel wrapped around her body and a funny look on her face.

"What's the matter, Mels. Is that spider back? I'll get him." Freddie smirked and sat down his computer beside him, preparing to do battle with the arachnid.

Melanie pulled the towel off her body, leaving her hair wrapped in another as she usually did.

"Oh, I get it." Freddie said, standing in front of her and placing his hands on her bare hips. "We'll have to keep it down, baby, Sam's probably still up."

"I don't want to fool around, Freddie." Mel frowned. "I - I think I found a lump."

He just looked at her puzzled, trying to decide if he should try to convince her otherwise.

"On my right breast." She sounded worried. "I know it wasn't there a week ago."

"Oh. OH!" Freddie touched her flesh. "Where?"

"Right here." She directed his hand to it. "I'll ask Monica to look at it tomorrow at work and I'll get a mammogram just to be safe."

"It's probably nothing, Mel. You just weaned David, it's probably just a backup in a gland or something." He tried to reassure his wife even though he was more scared than he ever was in his life. "That's a thing, right?"

"Geez, you're right. I should have thought of that. God, here I am, a nurse midwife, and my software engineer husband has to tell me about medical stuff. What's wrong with me? I'm just panicking for nothing."

"Bu-but you still should have it checked. Right?"

"Yes, you can't be too careful when it comes to this kind of thing. Especially after Mom's older sister and my grandmother both had problems."

 **What? You didn't really think I was going to write that Freddie cheated on his wife, did you?**


	10. Chapter 10 - Sister bonding

Chapter 10 Sister bonding

Unfortunately, Melanie's worst fears were confirmed by the imaging and a biopsy revealed that she would need to undergo surgery and chemotherapy. She was glad for her sister's help with not only the baby, but the household during her recovery. Sam now did all the cooking and cleaning and left Melanie spend her free time with her family and recuperate.

Freddie still had to go into the office for meetings and strategy sessions but he did most of his routine work from his home office. He got to the point where he dreaded going away from Melanie, even for a few hours, even though she all but forced him to get back to life as usual.

At first, her treatments were successful and she went into remission. As soon as she felt she was able, she even returned to work against Freddie's and Sam's pleas to take it easy and take more time off. Melanie felt like moving on with her life was more important for her recovery and her doctors agreed that staying home would be far worse for her.

Sam now completely gave up on the idea of looking for a job of her own and continued to be their nanny, now caring for the baby and the household as well as taking on as much of her sister's responsibility as she could get away with, without making Melanie feel like she was worthless. She had long squelched the idea of ever reconnecting with Freddie and was content to simply be not just his sister in law, but his best friend.

Just over two years after her final treatment, Melanie's cancer came back and it hit much harder this time. In a matter of months, it spread to her liver, lungs and other organs. New and different treatments were tried, but unfortunately none were successful and each checkup led to a poor prognosis.

* * *

Months went by and by the next spring Melanie was far worse than ever, not even able to stand for long periods of time, she began to look and feel like she was many years older than she actually was. No longer working, and in need of constant care herself, Melanie was confined to their home with Freddie and Sam to look after her in her final weeks.

Sam refused to let Melanie alone for more than a short while to run the little boy to pre-school or make a quick grocery trip. Mel did a lot of sleeping, a side effect of the pain medications she was on, but Sam did everything she could to help her be more comfortable and keep her spirits up.

While Freddie was at work, the girls spent a lot of time together, trying to recapture some of the time they weren't very sisterly with each other. Sam and Melanie had become very close since Sam returned to Washington, closer than either ever thought they would be. Sam regretted the way she always felt about Melanie and wished she could go back and repair their relationship from the time they were young.

"I'm glad my hair didn't fall out with this round of treatment." Melanie remarked, referring to how her first cancer treatments affected her. "I mean, it's barely back from last time it sure would blow if it all came out again."

"Yeah, it's looking pretty nice, too." Sam was brushing her sister's hair after helping her take a bath and shampoo. "You always did have better hair. Even after chemo, your hair still looks nicer than mine. I swear I'm never going back to that salon next to the grocery store. That chick hacked around at my head so bad it looks like goats were chewing on me in my sleep. I think a ten year old could have done a better job."

"Well, I'm not the one who told you to cut all yours off when you moved back to Seattle, Missy." Mel said with a smirk. "I hate to say it, but honestly, the short hair makes you look like Mom."

"I will pretend I didn't hear that." Sam acted insulted but couldn't help wonder if Freddie made the comparison, too.

The truth was, the girls had been getting along better with Pam since Melanie's problems first began. Pam even moved back to town herself and got an apartment not far from where she used to live so she could spend more time with her daughter and try to help out. It turned out she was as clueless as ever about taking care of the household duties and even worse about caring for a sick person. Still, she made the effort and came to visit Mel several times each week, always bringing her food that Mel really didn't even like.

"Besides, Mom never had auburn hair." Sam reminded Melanie.

"I don't know why you don't let it grow back out instead of getting it all chopped off every few weeks." Mel replied. "I lost mine with the first treatments two and a half years ago. Even if you were worried about people not being able to tell the difference in us, you could have just let it grow out. If you did, you'd probably have hair down to your butt by this time."

"Well, yours is growing back now and before long you'll look like you used to, so I can't hardly let mine grow out or we'll be back to the same old problem we've always had. No one will be able to know who is who."

"That's easy." Mel smirked, and poked at Sam's chest with her finger. "You still have both boobs."

Sam tried to change the subject, discussing her sister's problems was something she never wanted to laugh about. Melanie, however, found it to be a coping mechanism.

"God, remember that time you let Fredward take you to that under 21 dance club and you wasted no time in getting all flirty. Even weeks later, he was so confused, I thought he was gonna have a stroke. Carly told me how you acted around him and he still thought you were me pranking him. I just wish I could have been there to see his face when you kissed him. I bet he turned white as rice." Sam tried to lighten the mood by bringing up a happier memory, especially for her sister.

"Sammy." Mel said quietly, having none of the levity. "We both know my hair's never going to look like it did years ago. I won't last that long."

Sam knew this to be a fact, but she reserved herself to never say things like that around Melanie. Instead, she, like Freddie, ignored the truth that her twin sister was in very bad health.

"Sure it will. You'll have your pony tail back and . . . "

"No, it won't, sis. It's a simple fact, it took a year and a half for it to grow out to my shoulders. It'll never be like it was before I, before I. . . before I'm gone."

"Do NOT talk like that Mels!" Sam, now in front of her sister, took her shoulders gently in her hands.

"I'm not going to lie to myself or the people I love, Sam. I'm dying and now it's just a matter of time. They won't say when, but I've been to med school, I know how to read the reports. I might live a month or two or maybe four if I'm lucky, but sooner or later I'm going to slip away and I need you to promise me something."

"Mel!" Sam began to tear up. "No!" This was a conversation she didn't want to have.

"No, Sam. I need to get this off my chest, or what's left of it." Mel said with a chuckle, trying to be funny, but was doing a poor job. She had been meaning to talk about this for a while and was insistent.

"Mel! I'm warning you." Sam tried to be stern, but it was hard with tears streaming down her face. "Don't get me started."

"A twin promise, Sammy." Mel was serious. "I want you to promise me you won't be all mopey and act like the world has come to an end when I die."

"So I'm supposed to sing and dance after my only sister . . . , my twin sister . . ., you . . . I - I can't even say it."

"Dies, Sam. The word is dies. And no, I don't expect you to throw a huge block party but I don't want you act like you died, too." Mel looked into her sister's eyes and wiped the tears from her cheek. "And I don't want Freddie to go around acting like his life is over, either. Or I'm just away on some weekend trip and I'm coming back the next day and he has to be celibate for the rest of his life and never even look at another woman."

Sam just looked at her sister, she was unsure what Mel even meant.

"I want him to move on with his life and find love again and the only way he'll do that is if you push him into it. He's going to need you, Sam. You guys have been best friends since forever and he's going to need your shoulder to lean on. He'll never admit it, but he will. And he'll need your friendship to make sure he doesn't go off the deep end. And you'll need someone, too. Keep each other safe, Sammy."

Sam simply nodded in understanding, trying not to break down.

"An - and David, too. They're both going to need to keep things normal in their lives. Freddie's the smartest man I know and he's stronger than we give him credit for but he's not going to be able to raise a child on his own. And just between you and me, as much as I love Marissa, I'd really prefer that David not be smeared with tick lotion and wrapped in antibacterial underwear like his dad was. I need you to fill in for me and be his mother figure."

"I'll be here for them, Mel. Twin promise." Sam hugged her sister. "And as long as I'm breathing there'll be no tick baths for that boy. Or individually wrapped, labeled, sterile under pants."

"Good, cause I swear to chiz if I look down and see Marissa disinfecting my son, I'm coming back to haunt somebody." Mel said as she and Sam hugged. "I don't care who, but someone's gonna have a really bad day."

Sam had tears in her eyes at the thought of her sister not being alive any more, but she wiped her face and stood up quickly. "Gheesh! It's almost time for pre-school to be out, I'd better get going or they'll be calling to see where his ride is."

Freddie was home early that day, sitting beside his wife when Sam returned from picking up their son from pre-school and a quick stop at the grocery store. The three shared one of their last evenings together before Melanie took another turn for the worse.

* * *

By the end of the following week, Melanie had to be taken to the hospital with trouble breathing. Sam and Freddie hoped it could be a quick fix with some medications, but she never returned home after that. Throughout the next several weeks, she was moved to a terminal care facility where she spent her final days and Freddie, Sam and her mother all took turns staying with her around the clock.

They didn't take the little boy to see his mom in the hospital. Everyone was concerned that seeing her hooked up to machines and tubes would scare him. The did a few video chats when she was first there, being sure to zoom in on her face so he wouldn't see the equipment beside her bed. This, too stopped once Melanie was no longer able to speak or sit up.

"You take David up and get him tucked in, I'll heat up some food for us." Sam instructed quietly as they entered the house late in the evening.

"Maybe we should have just left him at Mom's" Freddie whispered as he headed up the stairs, carrying a four year old who was fast asleep. "He's sleeping so peacefully."

He came downstairs to find food on the table, but Sam barely touching hers. She pushed a few bites around on her plate with her fork as he sat down.

"Not hungry either, huh?" He watched her movements and never picked up a utensil himself.

"How can a I be hungry after what I just saw?" Sam sniffed back a tear. "I'm really afraid this time, Freddie. She hasn't even been awake since Tuesday evening, right after you got there."

"I know, Sam. I'm worried, too." He reached for her hand. "Come on. These chairs aren't comfortable enough to just hang out in the kitchen if we're not eating. I'll clean up the table later."

The two sat down on the sofa, right next to each other, but not in a romantic way, in a comforting way, as her put his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm afraid I'll never see my sister again." Sam was now full on crying, leaning into his chest, her arms around him. "Why did it have to be her, Freddie? Why Melanie? She was the good one. The smart one. The nice one. She had it all going for her, a great career, a beautiful home, a cute kid, and a great husband. It's just not fair! I'm the screw up, the black sheep of the family. I'm the one who should be dying, not her. No one would even miss me if I was gone."

"Don't say chizz like that, Sam. You're a great person and the best sister or aunt anyone could ever ask for, And you're my best friend. I would miss you and so would David an - and Melanie if it was you laying in that hospital bed. She'd be just as devastated as you are. And what about Carly and Spencer? And then there's Cat, she still calls you twice a week even though she's a big star on Broadway. Heck, even Gibby would miss you. They all love you in their own way. You have plenty of friends and people who care about you, Sam." Freddie's tears ran freely as he and Sam held each other. "Thank you for being here for us, Sam. I can't imagine going through something like this without you at my side."

She simply nodded and continued to cry into his chest.

"Hey, let's try to get some rest. We can head down to see Mel in the morning and give Pam a break. Mom said she'd come over here first thing and stay with David and take him to pre-school."

"I - I don't want to be by myself, Freddie." Sam sniffed. "Can you stay here on the couch with me?"

"Of course." He nestled back into the arm of the sofa and Sam took up position against him, still holding him tightly. "I'd really rather not be alone, either."

The two dozed off, thankful for each other's comfort and were awakened by Freddie's phone at just after four in the morning.

"Hello." He answered, mindlessly, without even looking at the caller id, he knew who it was.

"Mr. Benson? This is nurse Kathy from the hospice. I'm afraid I have some bad news . . . "

 **Sorry if the thing with Melanie upsets anyone, but it is a dramatic story. I think everyone's going to like the next chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11 - The kiss

**Couldn't wait to get this one up. Definitely more upbeat than the last installment and it should partially satisfy what we've all been waiting for.**

Chapter 11 The kiss!

Of course, no one took Melanie's death any harder than Freddie. He refused to take off his wedding ring, even months later and no matter what Sam said or did, it didn't seem to bring him any comfort. Unfortunately, Sam was hurting nearly as much as Freddie, she just did a better job of hiding it. She put on a strong face for the sake of him and the child, who still had trouble understanding exactly what was going on, but one woman can only be so strong.

The family got through a very difficult period, especially the holiday season. What was normally a time of year when the Pucketts and Bensons would be together to share food and conversation turned out to be a day of disappointments. Mrs. Benson did her best to pull it all together for the sake of her grandson, but Freddie was definitely not in the holiday spirit, understandably sulking around and speaking very little.

His first Christmas without Melanie was bad enough, but she was the one who pulled out all the stops to make the holiday special for their son. Freddie was clueless as to how to make the season special for a pre-school age boy. Sam tried to help by suggesting the traditional Christmas light viewing and trip to the mall for a picture with Santa which did help give the child some holiday spirit. Unfortunately, none of these things helped out poor Freddie, but only reminded of him of how lonely he was.

Sam, as it turns out, spent most of the holiday itself babysitting her mother, who chose to go on a drunken binge and attempt to drown her sorrows in several bottles of vodka. Pam was nearly as depressed as Freddie at the loss of one of her daughters and didn't seem to be seeing any relief to her mood, even after 7 months. Poor Sam had no chance to either enjoy the holiday or grieve her sister, she was too busy worrying about the others.

By New Year's, everyone was just glad to have the season behind them and hoping for a better year than the previous one. The cold Seattle winter, while always a little depressing, was nearly unbearable. Freddie had taken on some new projects at work and spent many long days at the office. Sam knew that this was his way of coping, but she now had little or no down time and was beginning to get overwhelmed at doing nearly everything by herself.

Freddie dreaded what they all knew would be the most difficult day of the year for him, Valentine's Day, he and Mel's anniversary. Though the two saw only a little over seven years together, they were seven great years and he spent many sleepless nights wondering how he was ever going to be able to raise their son without his wife. Every memory of her was like a fresh wound on his heart and he fell deeper and deeper into despair as the date drew closer.

Thank goodness for Sam, she had been his rock through all this. They comforted each other in their loss and not having to come home to an empty house and the nagging reminder that his wife would never again be there to greet him meant the world to him. Mostly, he was glad to have his best friend around to maintain a sense of normal in his son's life, the trouble was he was afraid he couldn't count on her forever.

After all, she would eventually find someone she wanted to be with and he would be left on his own to raise his son. What Freddie didn't realize was that Sam had promised her sister that she would always be there for her family. A promise Sam didn't take lightly. And Sam _had_ found a man she wanted to be with - Freddie. Only trouble was, she didn't know if he still felt the same way about her as he did when he was in college and he was still obviously grieving the loss of his wife, so she kept her feelings to herself, even though it was painful to do so.

* * *

An advantage of Freddie's position with the Pear company, he was able to take a few days off on a whim and either work from home or catch up when he went back to the office and this was one of those times. Sam feared it would be a while before he was able to go out in public the shape he was in. Bums on the street looked better for the most part and saying his facial expression rivaled that of a dying hound dog tied out in a blizzard was giving the canine far too much credit.

He spent the day sulking about the house on February 14th, as he did the three days prior. Sam had taken David to the park after pre-school to give his dad some space, but she returned home carrying a cranky child with a skinned knee who was more than ready for a nap. On the couch was a clearly despondent Freddie, who had obviously been crying most of the day. She was just glad he didn't take to drinking when he felt depressed like her mother and last boyfriend. Of course if he did, there would be holy hell to pay in the form of the wrath of Sam Puckett.

The young woman knew she needed to do something to ease his depression and considered suggesting a family outing for dinner, but quickly dismissed the idea, figuring it seemed too much like a celebration for this day. That and Freddie looked and smelled like a hobo and it would take hours to make him presentable enough to even go to Taco Hut.

Freddie quickly tried to hide his mood from the child and took the little boy upstairs for a nap after Sam cleaned up his injury, carefully placed a band-aid on it and kissed it to make it better. Once he tucked his son into bed, Freddie came back downstairs. He hadn't shaved or showered in days and he once again plopped himself on the sofa to stare at the TV. Sam just shook her head at how much he resembled one of the out of work losers her mother used to date. The only thing missing was the beer gut, mullet and the stained up wife-beater t-shirt.

While Freddie sat on the couch, Sam was in the kitchen searching for a snack, wishing she had taken time to stop at the grocery store while David was at pre-school instead of going to the gym. "Uh, Freddie. Did you eat today? I don't see any dishes or anything."

"Had some cereal yesterday. Wasn't really hungry." He responded with a mumble and kept mindlessly flipping channels like he was searching for something but not finding it. As time passed he flipped faster and faster and looked more and more frustrated. He had almost slipped into a bi-polar persona, being all sullen one moment, then angry and bitter the next. He was clearly beginning to get angry, pushing the buttons harder and mumbling under his breath.

"You want me to make you something? I could go for some chili. I can whip up a batch quick. Or would you rather just order some Chinese or something. I'll buy this time." She stood in the doorway and watched him for a moment before speaking. "Jesus, Freddie. You're gonna break the stinkin' remote. Give it a break, will ya!"

"Why the hell can't I ever find anything decent on this fuckin' TV. I swear to Christ, you pay over a hundred and fifty bucks a month for frickin' cable and there's never a goddamn thing on that's fit to watch." He flipped the set off and threw the remote at the wall beside the big-screen and leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Shit!"

"Freddie." Sam sat beside him and took his hand. "I know this is a difficult day for you, but you need to pull it together. C'mon, let's just talk. I don't care what about, work, computers, Galaxy Wars, trains, whatever. You know I'm here for you, right?"

"Aww, Sam. What's the use?" He laid his head on her shoulder like he did many times over the years, but never as often as he did the past one, before suddenly getting indignant. "There's no goddamn use in any of it. I'm tired of trying. I've had it, I give up, so you can stop trying to save me. I'm not worth it."

She was not only worried about him, but tired of his attitude. More than anything she was tired of busting her hump while he simply resigned to give up. He couldn't see what was right in front of him and she suddenly snapped back. "What's the use? What's the use? The use is upstairs taking a nap, you selfish prick! The use is your best friend sitting beside you, who happens to love you more than bacon." She pushed back from him for a second and grabbed his shoulders to shake him. "The use is your career and your home. And as much as it pains me to say it, even your mom."

"She's worried sick about you, you know that? We all are. Gibby keeps calling me to ask about you because you won't return his calls any more. Spencer texts, like, every hour on the hour to see if there's anything he can do. And if he doesn't, it's Carly blowing up my phone with texts and then there's her endless emails. Cat's even started asking how you are when she calls. There are people that care about you and it hurts all of us to see you acting like you're the only person in the world who has ever lost someone they love. Holy hell, dude, I lost my twin sister but I didn't go around acting like a horse's ass for our birthday or anything did I?"

Freddie looked at her with guilt and tears in his eyes. The woman had a point. "I - I - I'm sorry, Sam. I know you miss her, too. It - it's just so damn hard. I thought we'd be together forever." He lowered his head to her chest and sobbed softly into her pillow-y flesh. "And every time I look at you, I see her and then I feel guilty, like I'm cheating on Melanie for wanting to hold another woman. You see, I - I've been . . . "

"It's alright Freddie." Sam cut him off and put her arms around him. If it weren't for his sadness, this would be a perfect setting.

He took in a deep breath. "I'm feeling guilty because I've been having these feelings lately and I just don't know what the hell I'm going to do. I'm so confused."

"I'm here, Freddie. I'll always be here for you. Just like I promised I'd be. I promised both of you and I meant every word." Sam rubbed his back and left him cry as her own tears fell. "You mean the world to me, you and David both. I meant it when I said I love you, and I'll always love you. You know that, right?"

After a minute or two, Freddie stretched back a little, and gently pulled Sam with him. He was completely comfortable with her being this close to him and it felt so natural for them both to just hold onto each other.

"Thanks, Sam. Thanks for putting up with my crap and for being here for both of us. You're such a great friend. And just for the record, I love you more than bacon, too."

"Maybe so, but do you remember _how much_ I love bacon." Sam looked into his eyes and felt a spark she hadn't felt in many years. Freddie felt it as well and made no protest when she stretched up and their lips slowly came together. At first it was a gentle, friendly kiss that they broke after a couple of seconds.

Freddie wasn't sure what he was doing and neither was Sam as they continued to look deep into each other's eyes, silently. Sam twisted herself around to get closer and their lips made contact again except this time it was more passionate, more intimate and much more intense.

To say this had been building for a while was an understatement. This was something they both needed and wanted very badly. He felt her hands go around his neck and he instinctively held her middle as they left all their feelings out in one fateful act.


	12. Chapter 12 - Overanalyzing

Chapter 12 Overanalyzing things

Sam didn't kiss Freddie like her sister ever did, she kissed with a burning flame of desire. A desire she harbored only for him since before they were even old enough to drive. Their mouths soon opened, tongues met and they kissed for what seemed like an eternity. The small portion of her soul that made her feel guilty for kissing on her dead sister's husband was pushed deep down inside and Sam continued the make out session. Before long, she had pushed the brown haired man further back into the arm of the couch and was now on top, passionately grinding into him.

Freddie's pent-up desires were overriding all other thoughts. Besides, he wanted this. Actually, he needed this. He and Sam were intimate before, they were familiar with each other's bodies and knew exactly what felt good. And this felt damn good. They were doing something they hadn't done in years and it was a feeling neither realized how much they missed.

Sam, too needed to feel close to someone. It had been years since her last relationship and that ended horribly. For the longest time, she was a bit hesitant to even consider letting someone into her life, but Freddie wasn't just anyone. He was the first boy she kissed, the first guy she made love to, the first, and only person she ever truly imagined spending her life with.

Both were getting very turned on. In fact, it was always a session like this that would end up in an all night sex marathon when he would visit her in Venice or she would come back to Seattle for a few days when he would be home from college on a break. The only thing that kept either of them from going further was the fact that a little boy was upstairs asleep.

Hands wandered under shirts, various parts ground together and neither of them could keep from panting when their lips periodically separated. But after a few short breaths the intense kissing would start again. No words were necessary as both of them basked in the bliss of their heated make out session. A session like neither had ever experienced before, not even on their shared prom night.

Sam, as usual, was the aggressor. She always was and probably always would be. Unlike many relationships where the male initiated the sex act, more often than not, it was her who made the first move back in the days of their friends with benefits arrangement.

The kissing and touching continued for what seemed like hours and they didn't stop until they heard little David stirring from his nap. Both straightened up, tried to act normal and hide their arousal, which was far easier for Sam than Freddie. Neither wanted to quit, but both seemed glad for the distraction to keep them from doing something they'd possibly regret later. They had already went further than either felt they should have gone.

"Daddy? Aunt Sammy?" The child asked, yawning, holding a stuffed dinosaur under his arm. "Can I get something to eat. My knee feels better and I'm really hungry."

"Hey, you know what, I'm hungry too buddy." Sam said as she tried to hide what she and the child's father had just been doing from him by turning her back to slyly straighten up her bra cups and tuck things back into place. "How about we order a couple of pizzas and we can try to talk your dad into actually eating some real food today?"

"Oooh, I want sausage and extra pepperoni." The kid hopped up and down. "And ham. Double ham."

Freddie chuckled a little and scooped the boy up onto the sofa between them. "He sure got that Puckett meat eating gene, didn't he?"

"Alright guys, I'm going to call Pizza Joint right now, be back in a minute." Sam headed for the kitchen to grab her phone from the counter where she left it an hour earlier. "I have them on speed dial."

"Aunt Sam, chicken wings." The boy called after her. "Get chicken wings, too."

"You read my mind, kiddo." She replied. "I think I'll get two buckets so you guys can have some, too."

The next morning, Freddie was up and dressed for work right on schedule. Sam couldn't believe her eyes when she came down the steps and found her guys sitting at the table eating toaster waffles and talking about trains. The evening he and Sam and his child shared seemed to help draw him out of his depression, or at least distract him from it.

"Did you want some bacon or maybe a couple of eggs?" She asked, opening the refrigerator. "I've been getting eggs from one of the girls in my yoga group. They're from her own chickens, best eggs I've ever had."

"Uh, no, I'm good." Freddie responded, not looking up from his plate. Something seemed to be bothering him because he wouldn't look at her.

"Seriously, you need to try them. I swear I can't even eat store eggs any more. These things actually have flavor. And they make the fluffiest omelet ever." At first, she was oblivious to his mood.

"No, thanks. Maybe another time." He tried to sound sincere but there was no hiding the melancholy tone of his voice.

Sam immediately knew he was racked with guilt for what they did the day before. "Alright then, I guess I'll just make some bacon." She set about to working on her own breakfast. "So I was thinking, maybe after pre-school I could take David to the mall, look for an outfit for the Easter pictures we were talking about the other day. Easter's early this year, I need to book us an appointment with the photographer. I hope I can still get us in over the weekend."

"Yeah." He still didn't look up, but tried to sound normal. "You need some cash?"

"It's alright. I'm good." She tried to think of a way to get him to look up, but those waffles were awfully interesting. "Hey, tonight how about we all head down to Charlie Cheesey's? We've been wanting to go there for weeks to play in the ball pit. Right, David?"

The kid nodded. "Yeah!"

"Oh, um, sometime, maybe. Bu - but I'm going to have to work late tonight. You know, since I haven't been into the office since last week, everything's probably all gone to c-r-a-p." He spelled out the 'bad' word. "How about a rain check till the weekend?"

"I suppose." She knew he was right about that, taking a few days off always meant he'd have to put in a just as many long days to get caught up. That was all part of being a supervisor. He still wouldn't look at her and it was starting to really bother her. "Freddie? Can I ask you something? Out in the living room?"

"Can it wait, Sam? Please. I have to get to work. If I don't leave right now, I'm probably going to get stuck in horrible traffic." He looked at the time on his new Pear-Phone, placed the silverware on his empty plate and stood up.

"Sure. I know traffic's a bear this time of day." She conceded. "We can talk tonight when you get home, no big deal."

"See ya later." He finally glanced at her and, thankfully, gave her a small but very uncomfortable smile before kissing the top of his son's head. "Be good for Aunt Sam, Buddy. Have fun at preschool and learn something for me."

Sam hated this. She was so afraid they had messed up their friendship by what they did. It wasn't like they hadn't ever made out before. They had sex years ago for goodness sake and lots of it. They managed to be friends after that. Back then, they were even comfortable enough to keep up their 'friends with benefits' routine in secret for years. Well, a secret from everyone but Carly, and apparently everyone _she_ knew.

Now, he was acting like she had the plague or something and all they had done was make out. Thank God she didn't end up doing what she was considering while his hands were under her bra or he'd definitely be freaking out. Groping is one thing, but out and out nudity is totally different.

The family's normal morning routine was to get David dressed and watching his favorite dinosaur cartoon while Sam took a few minutes to get ready to leave the house. She'd then drop him off at pre-school and either hit the gym, go for a power-walk or handle any necessary shopping until it was time to pick him up. Today was an exception, instead of going anywhere public, she returned home and made a call to her long time friend in New York.

"Hey, Sam." Carly answered the phone. "I was just thinking about calling you."

"Really?" Sam replied, sitting cross legged on the couch. "What up?"

"I haven't heard from you or Freddie in a while other than texts and I was wondering how he was doing. You know with yesterday and all. You said you thought he might have some trouble, I got kind of worried when you quit texting back yesterday afternoon. Last thing you told me was David fell off the jungle gym and skinned his knee. I hope he's alright."

"David's fine. Those Super-Guy bandages do the trick. But, Freddie, well, it was rough for a few days. Kinda started late last week, really - and got worse by the day. All in all I'd say it wasn't any worse than I expected. I did think I was going to have to force feed him there for a while though."

"Oh. Really?" Carly frowned. "That would be a funny sight. You know, somehow I don't have any trouble picturing you having him in a headlock and shoving a ham sandwich in his mouth."

"Maybe that's because you've seen me do it. But I don't give up my ham so easily anymore." Sam snickered at the thought. "I swear he didn't eat anything at all other than dry cereal for days. And not the healthy, so high in fiber it causes rock solid poop kind his mom brings by either, I'm talking the full sugar chiz I get for myself."

"You still eat that crap?" Carly sneered. "Sam! We're not thirteen anymore. Aren't you worried about your blood sugar? Or your cholesterol?"

Sam just shrugged, even though Carly couldn't see her. "But then I sort of gave him hell for acting like a douche and being a gigantic jerk, then we made out, and when David got up from his nap we ordered pizza and wings and watched a couple of his nubby Galaxy Wars movies. You know that last one wasn't all that bad. The special effects were actually pretty cool. I mean, for a Dingo movie."

Carly gasped. "You actually watched Galaxy Wars 7? And you liked it? Dang!"

"Yeah. The plot was half decent, most of the aliens weren't too annoying, except that blue dude with the floppy ears. And the chick in the white spandex outfit is kind of hot, if I do say so myself. I'll bet it hurts when she runs, let me tell you. I need a super tight sports bra to even do aerobics and she's gotta have two cups sizes on me."

"I thought her adopted twin brother was the hot one." Carly giggled. "Those leather pants. Mmm-mmm-mmm. Leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. First time I saw that movie, I got so worked up, I gave Shawn the longest blo . . . , well, uh, never mind."

"You know I think last night was the first we were all in the family room together since we took down the Christmas tree. Freddie actually shaved and went to work today so I guess he's maybe snapped out of his funk a little bit."

"Well, good for him. Wait, back up the truck, what did you say about making out?" Carly suddenly remembered Sam mentioning that part a minute earlier.


	13. Chapter 13 - Talking with the Shays

Previously: _"Well, good for him. Wait, back up the truck, what did you say about making out?" Carly suddenly remembered Sam mentioning that part a minute earlier._

Chapter 13 Talking with the Shay siblings

"Um, we sort of kissed and made out for a while, he even got in a few good booby grabs. But it got his mind off being all depressed and got him to go to work, didn't it?." Sam sighed. "Thing is, I can't help but wonder if that's why he even went to the office today, so he wouldn't have to face me?"

"When the frick did that happen?" Carly gasped. "And why for the love of ham would you make out with your widowed brother in law? And you seriously just let him feel you up? Sa-am!"

"Yesterday, I already told you that. And it's not like he's never juggled my melons before. I - I don't know, we were hugging after I yelled at him and I sort of left slip that I love him. Then he said he loves me, but I'm pretty sure he just means as a friend."

Sam paused for a second. "Anyhow, we looked into each others eyes and then there was a little kiss and then a deeper kiss. And then next thing I know I'm straddling him on the couch, we're playing tonsil hockey and he's got a hand full of the twins. Right under the bra, too. Just like he used to."

"Alright, I'm pretty sure if he was making out with you and letting you ride him like a pony after he said he loves you, he _didn't_ mean just as friends. He probably just feels weird because he kissed you, you're his sister in law for cheese sake."

"I - I guess that makes sense. Bu - but it's not like we did anything too hard core and even so, it's not like him and I weren't intimate before. Th - that was just before . . . he married my . . . now . . . dead . . . sister."

Sam continued after a sigh. "Thing is, he was perfectly normal afterward, the whole rest of the evening it was really great, actually. You know, hanging out like old times. Well, only with a little kid there. An - and I saw him making eyes at me more than once. You know, checking me out. He even slipped in a little butt slap one time when I was stretched up getting the chip bag off the top of the fridge. It was almost like we were teenagers again. It was just this morning when he started being all spazzy."

"Wait! You guys didn't spend the night together or anything did you?" Carly worried. "Sam! Jesus!"

"Of course not! I mean, I might have made out and left him fondle my boobs, but we can't sleep in the same bed. What if David caught us, he wouldn't know what was going on."

"Well that's good. Freddie probably got to thinking too much about it, you know how he always over-analyzes everything, and like I said now he feels like he was cheating on Mel. Holy heck, I saw the last time we video chatted that he was still wearing his wedding ring. Add the fact that you guys were _together_ before, this whole thing has got to be enough to make his head spin."

"Oh, man. I really messed up didn't I?" Sam now had herself convinced that she ruined everything.

"Well, it's not like you forced him or anything, so he can't say it was your fault. He was a willing participant, too. I know how you've always felt about him. And, honestly I'm pretty sure he always felt something for you, even if he would never let himself show it. This kinda proves it, really."

"Really? You think he still feels . . . I mean, I do, but . . . really?"

"God, Sam. Even Gibby can see it."

"Shit. I've got to face this head on and talk to him, don't I?" Sam knew this to be a fact, but still she dreaded it.

"I know it's not what you like to do, but yes. You guys need to get this out in the open. If you two want to date, go for it. You just can't be all weird around each other. There's David to think of, and if you guys start being all spazzy, he's going to pick up on it and next thing he'll be asking questions. Then things will really get complicated."

"What if he just wants me gone, Carls?" Sam worried. "He might want to simply remove this temptation from his life and I don't think I can lose him, too."

"He won't do that, Sam. You're his best friend and he did say he loves you. But you've got to get this out in the open."

The girls went on to talk about other things until Sam had to hang up so she could go to pick up David from pre-school.

* * *

Freddie spent all morning at his desk, working on fixing problems that happened while he had taken several days off. Even before noon he realized this was going to be a very long day. Add the fact that his head was not totally in the game, it just made things all the worse.

He couldn't keep from thinking back to Sam and what they did, and didn't do, the day before. How he touched things he hadn't touched in many years and how much he liked those things. How she kissed and nuzzled into his neck. How, more than anything, all he wanted to do was rip her clothes off and make wild, passionate love to her, right there on his living room sofa. A sofa that Melanie picked out right after they bought the house.

Freddie looked over at the framed picture of Melanie holding David as a baby that was on his desk and tears fell. "I'm sorry, Mel." He muttered. "I am so sorry. I don't know what I'm doing, I really think I'm losing my mind." His phone rang, distracting him from further self inflicted guilt. He wiped at his face quickly, swallowed hard and grabbed the receiver. "Hello, Ms. Philips, thanks for calling me back. I needed to speak to you about next quarter's budget."

Over his lunch break, which he spent alone in his office, Freddie made a call to Spencer. He needed to talk to someone about what happened and this was the best he could come up with. He knew better than to call his mother, she'd have a stroke over this. His old friend Gibby was worthless for this kind of thing, well most kind of things, and Carly would immediately call Sam and get her side of the story. He'd rather not let Sam know that he felt like a jerk because of all this. Though he was pretty sure she had already figured that part out.

"Yo. Freddison. What's up?" Spencer answered. "How are you doing?"

"Hey, Spencer. I'm alright. Now. How are things with the kids?"

"Great. Maggie just started crawling the other day and Stephan is doing great in pre-school. We've gotta get the boys together to play sometime. Maybe over the weekend we can go to Charlie Cheesey's or something with them. I hear they got a new arcade version of Pack-Rats and I'm dying to try it out. Just don't tell Monica or she'll skin me, she hates it when I play video games."

"Sure, that sounds good. David's been pesting us to go back to play in the ball pit ever since he was there for his one friend's birthday party."

"Great. I'll check and see when Monica can watch Maggie and we can take the boys. Hey, maybe Sam can come over here and hang out for a little bit while we're gone. Don't tell her I said so, but Monica really needs to learn to cook. And Sam's got a magic touch when it comes to food. Especially those special recipe meatballs of hers."

"I'll say something to her. See if she can help you out on the down low. Speaking of Sam, I kinda wanted to talk to you about some chiz. Um, yesterday . . . we, uh . . . I , oh man, Spence, I think I messed up big time."

"Oh my God! You guys didn't . . . " Spencer gasped. "Your old friends with benefits thing?"

"Gheesh! Does _everybody_ know about that?" Freddie wondered if Carly literally told everyone she knew about him and Sam doing it years ago. "No, thank God. But we did sort of do some kissing and feeling. There was a lot of feeling. I'd actually say we went past second base. And now I feel like a total stub rag because of it. I mean, it was yesterday. My anniversary. I kissed Mel's sister on the day I married her."

"Well, Freddie, it's not like you cheated on Melanie. I know it's not even been a year, but you can't live with the dead, man. So you kissed Sam. Big deal. You were the most loyal husband ever and don't you think Mel would want you to be happy. I knew, Carly knew, hell even Gibby knew, that you've had feelings for Sam since, like, forever and you never once acted on them while Mel was alive, did you?"

"Of course not!" Freddie defended. "Never."

"And you have Sam back in your life, and now Melanie's gone and I know that's terrible, but you and Sam are two young and attractive people who have been brought back to each other. Neither of you are doing anything wrong, dude. Stop beating yourself up over this and enjoy yourself. Just be happy. If Sam makes you happy, what's the problem?"

This was not the answer Freddie was looking for. Somehow, he wanted someone to berate him for what he did and tell him was an asshole for it. Maybe he _should_ have called his mom after all.

"But she's Melanie's sister, her twin sister, and every time I look at Sam I see her, even though Sam's hair is a little different now. I'm just worried I'm attracted to Sam's appearance because I miss Melanie. Or worse, somehow I'll end up hurting her."

"Dude! I'd say you've been attracted to more than Sam's appearance. You guys have been dodging the whole Seddie thing since high school."

"Seddie? Really?" Freddie sighed. "I guess you're right, but I care too much about Sam for her to be my rebound. Isn't it too soon for me to be kissing another woman?"

"Well, only your heart can tell you if it's time, Freddie." Spencer had a sudden flirt with wisdom. "But ask yourself this, if it was another girl, say Carly or whoever that you were all hung up on for years and years and you kissed her, would you feel bad?"

Freddie thought silently.

"Basically, do you feel guilty simply because you kissed anyone period or because you secretly had feelings for Sam even while Mel was alive? Even though you kept them to yourself. Or is it just because you're even having romantic feelings for someone else at all?"

"I - I don't know, Spence. Maybe all of it."

"It's going to happen sooner or later, Freddie. You're going to fall in love with someone and move on, it's part of the healing process."

"Well, thank you , Dr. Feel." Freddie replied.

This led Freddie to do a lot of thinking as he worked for a little while longer after lunchtime. Knowing he'd be working later than usual, he took a mid-afternoon break to leave the office briefly for some fresh air.


	14. Chapter 14 - Seddie heart to heart

Chapter 14 Seddie heart to heart

That evening, just as Sam suspected, Freddie was very late coming home. He sent a text at four-thirty telling her that he was staying a little late to get caught up on work and then another at seven saying he would be home about nine. He may have been feeling a little weird, but he didn't want to be inconsiderate to her.

After all, she cooked a good dinner every night and not showing up to eat would be downright rude. And he cared very deeply for her, he could never purposely do something to hurt Sam in any way. When he had to work late, Sam would always wrap up a plate for him and put it in the fridge so he could heat it up when he got home, usually accompanied by a note on the refrigerator door telling him what it was and how long to zap it.

While she was relieved to hear from him, Sam worried that he was working late simply to avoid her, knowing that she generally spent the latter part of the evening in her own room watching TV with her headphones on, rather than staying downstairs. This night was different, when he opened the front door, he saw that Sam was waiting up for him, watching TV in the living room when he came home.

"Oh, uh, hey Sam. I didn't know you'd still be up." He said quietly, as he took off his coat and hung it in the closet by the front door. "David's in bed, I guess." He sat down on the nearest chair and began to remove his shoes. After all, he was raised not to wear shoes in the house.

"Yeah, he wanted to stay up to see you but after such a long day yesterday he just couldn't take any more. Poor little guy conked out about an hour ago watching that weird show with the talking trains that don't have lips. "

"You mean Terrance the Train? I used to love that show." Freddie defended one of his favorite childhood shows. "We should get him some Terrance sheets and blankets like I had when I was his age."

"I carried him up and put him to bed and he didn't even stir." Sam was afraid he was hoping she wouldn't be up, but he really wasn't. "I decided to watch TV down here instead of in my room since I wouldn't be disturbing you with the sound."

He shrugged. "What you watch on TV never really bothers me unless it's one of those dumb reality shows about people who are famous just for being famous and sit around and bicker all the time. Man, I hated it when Mel watched that kind of chiz. It's like listening to a bunch of stupid, quacking ducks."

"You know I don't watch that kind of garbage. Those trashy people should all be butter socked until they can't be recognized." She cracked. "Hey, I can heat up some food if you're hungry, we had pork chops. I saved you a plate. But I might have to snitch one from you. It's pork after all." She got up to head for the kitchen and motioned for him to follow. "So how was work today? I guess you were really behind with stuff, huh? You've been there for like, what, thirteen, fourteen hours?"

Freddie sighed. "It was a nightmare. James tried to work on the new Pear-maps program while I was out, but he had it so messed up, it would have never worked right on the old platform Pear-pads. I've been re-writing his entire code since about four this afternoon and I'm not even half done. And Sheila sent in our team's budget request for next quarter on Monday. She had us short by more than ten thousand bucks so I spent most of the morning playing phone tag with the head of accounting and even the vice-president of software development begging her to let me re-submit the report. Man, if I can't get that funding, I'm going to have to lay off two of my team members."

"Ah, you'll work it out, you always do. That's why they pay you the big bucks. Have a seat and relax while I nuke your dinner. You want something to drink?"

"It's OK, Sam. You don't have to do that, go back to what you were doing, I can manage." He reached into the refrigerator to find a bottle of soda and propped up against the counter. "Hey, you got more Blue Dog. Thanks."

"S'alright. The show was a rerun anyway. I've seen this episode about four times. The sheriff kills some zombies, cuts off a guys infected leg, stabs some dude's eye out, gives a kid his hat, same ol' same ol', no big deal." She glanced his way as she unwrapped his plate and put it in the microwave. "I - um wanted a chance to talk to you anyway."

"Did you get to go shopping to find David an Easter outfit?"

"Nah, he wanted to go to the park to feed the squirrels and go for a walk. I skipped my work out this morning so I needed a little fresh air and exercise anyway. I'll take him to the mall tomorrow after the dentist." The microwave beeped and Sam pulled out the plate. "I think we need to talk about yesterday." She slid the plate in front of him.

Freddie took off his tie and sat down at his usual spot at the kitchen table. He knew they needed to get things out in the open, no matter how much he wanted to avoid it. He was just surprised Sam was the one insisting they talk, normally she didn't like these kind of conversations.

Sam sat down at the seat across from Freddie where his son usually sat, rather than beside him. As he picked up his fork, she suddenly noticed he wasn't wearing his wedding ring. To her knowledge, he had never taken it off since the day he got married.

"I - um, God I know this sounds stupid and you're probably going to say I'm a nub for this, but I went to talk to Melanie today." He admitted quietly as he began eating. "I needed a break to get away for a little bit after I discovered the maps problem. You know, before I had to actually start working on it. I drove over to St. Daniel's and visited her grave. I go there once in a while, but it's the first I've been down since the holidays with the snow and all."

"It's not stupid, Freddie. I go there, too." Sam touched his hand. "I stopped by one day last week while David was at pre-school. I sit and talk to her sometimes. You know that stone beside hers is just about the right height to sit on?" Sam poked a fork into a small piece of meat and stuck it in her mouth.

"R-really?" He choked and swallowed some mashed potatoes.

"Yep. I tell her about what David's doing and how he's growing so fast and how that weird couple across the street still haven't taken down their janky old Christmas decorations. And of course what kind of chiz you're doing at work that I don't understand."

Freddie rolled his eyes and took another bite.

"I really miss my sister, Freddie. I know we weren't that close when we were growing up because - well, quite honestly, she annoyed the living hell out of me. But I wish I could go back in time and change all that." Sam sniffed back a tear. "So I guess you probably told her about what happened."

"Yeah, I had to get stuff off my chest." He said quietly. Sam couldn't tell if this was a good thing or he was still completely racked with guilt, but she could feel the anxiety in the air.

"Oh?"

"I had this dream last night. I dreamed that I came home one day and Melanie was here and she had seen us together, raising David and playing house, such as we do. And she was really mad at me. So mad she wouldn't even talk to me."

Sam gulped. She knew Freddie felt guilty for the kiss and all, but this was unexpected. He seemed to have himself convinced Melanie would be mad at him, too. Maybe Carly was wrong, he was going to tell her to leave.

"And?"

"She finally said she wasn't mad at me for kissing you, she was mad at me because I hurt you. She told me I broke your heart and she was upset about that."

"But, you didn't do anything to hurt me. You wouldn't do that, Freddie. Thing is, I've been kind of worried that things are going to be messed up between us now because of what I did."

"It wasn't just you, Sam. We were bot there." He finished up his plate. "And this morning I was a real dick with you an - and . . . aw, Sam. I really do love you. More than anything."

"I know you wouldn't, Freddie." She conceded. "But we both know you couldn't hardly shout it from the roof tops that you were in love with your wife's twin sister. Hey, you want some pudding for dessert? I made butterscotch, your favorite."

"Is it the kind with the skin on it?"

"What kind of question is that? Is there any other kind?" She got in the fridge for the pudding, setting a dish out for each of them and grabbing them each a spoon. "Someone seriously needs to invent pudding skin singles."

"So anyway, when I was at the cemetery I told her about the dream. And I asked her if she was alright with what we did. I know it's dumb and she wasn't going to answer me or anything but I had to talk to someone. I even called Spencer but that didn't help make me feel any better."

"Really? You actually thought talking to Spencer about something like this would be helpful? Wow, dude, you must have been confused."

"Yeah, I was feeling guilty for what we did yesterday. Well, not right away. At first I was kind of ecstatic. I'm telling you it was all I could do to keep my hands off you last evening. But after I went to bed and got to thinking about how I've been wanting to do that for years, I had a helluva time getting to sleep." He verified Carly's thought that he over analyzed things. "Then when I did, there was that effed up dream."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "You've wanted to make out with me for years?"

"Basically ever since you moved back home. So I also confessed to her that I had those kind of feelings for you, even when she was sick and dying. And there was that time when your old boyfriend beat you up and we spent the night in that nasty, old motel by the airport down in Sacramento. I just wanted to kiss you so bad and make it all go away."

Sam just looked guilty herself.

"And I almost tried to start something that night. Mel was very pregnant and she was really uncomfortable and we hadn't, you know, done it in a long time and there we were, in that bed, holding each other and I was, well, I - I was sort of turned on laying there that way with you. I would never have cheated, but you were right there beside me and I started to remember how we always used to hook up when we'd visit. And I started to get all riled up, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it."


	15. Chapter 15 - Seddie!

Chapter 15 Seddie!

 **This is the continuation of the Seddie conversation from the previous chapter. I had to cut it in half since it got way too long.**

"Um, I hate to admit this, but I was more than a little bit turned on that night, too." Sam blushed. "It wasn't that I wanted to nail my sister's husband but I didn't have sex for, like 6 months before that, since before my miscarriage, really. I tried because I thought that's why John stayed out at the bars and all, you know since he wasn't getting any action at home. But I just couldn't and I was really afraid I was going to get pregnant again."

Freddie nodded as she continued.

"Then there was his drinking and pretty much turning into a complete asshole. And there we were and I knew no matter what, you'd never hurt me and I kept thinking that you were the only man I'd ever be able to trust again."

He raised an eyebrow.

"And it felt so good having you hold me again, so right. Just like when you were in college. And I remembered how passionate we always were when we were together and how we basically screwed each others brains out every time were together. That made me all flustered, but I couldn't just up and start something with you. Even though I was so horny I didn't know what to do with myself. Let's just say, there was a reason my shower the next morning took as long as it did."

Freddie smirked at what she was implying. "I'm glad nothing happened, Sam." He took her hand.

"Me, too." She nodded. "We'd both have totally hated ourselves. Sorry, I think I interrupted what were you saying."

Freddie continued to tell Sam about his visit to Melanie's grave. "Anyway, so there I was at the cemetery and even after I confessed it was like the weight of the guilt was still there, I was still ashamed of myself. Actually I felt even worse than before. I thought confession was supposed to make you feel better, not make you feel like a total stub rag."

"Freddie. You can't beat yourself up. things might have went a little faster than either of us intended, but it wasn't like you're the one who started it."

"I know, Sam." He sighed. "I keep telling myself that, but I . . . well, honestly I kinda have trouble believing it."

"So why aren't you wearing the ring?" She pointed to his hand, not knowing how to respond to what he had just told her. She thought she was the only one completely turned on that night.

"Oh, that has nothing to with the dream or whatever. I just figured the anniversary would be a good time to remove it. I took it off as soon as I got in my car this morning." He pulled the ring from his pocket and put it on the table in front of him.

Sam just glanced at the bi-colored circle briefly and kept looking at him.

"So, I was walking back to my car, just feeling like a total douche bag and I walked past this really big, fancy stone, it was a family lot. The grandparents were buried there and everything, clear back a hundred years or more. I must have walked past it like fifty times in the last year, but something told me to stop and read it today. And there was a recent burial, an old lady who just died a few weeks ago, and I read the other names on the stone. What I saw was so sad. Her husband died in World War 2, June of 1942."

"Yeah, my one grandfather was in that war. He was really old." Sam remembered meeting him once when she was little before he died.

"Anyway I kept reading the dates on the stone, these two people, they had a daughter who was buried there along with her husband, too. The daughter was born in February of 1943."

"Wow." Sam gasped. "That - that means, this poor dude probably never even knew he was going to be a dad."

"Probably not. But that's not even the saddest part. I took a few minutes and did some quick searching after I got back to the office and I read the woman's obituary from the newspaper. The lady never got remarried even though they were really young when he died, even younger than we are. And she lived almost 75 years totally by herself, she raised their daughter all alone and took care of both her parents until they were gone and the daughter when she got sick, and the lady grew old all alone. The woman lived to be almost a hundred and I doubt if she ever found love again."

"That is pretty sad." Sam said as she saw a tear in his eye. "To go that long without someone in your life."

"And then I knew why something told me to stop and read it. This sounds so hokey, but I think It was Mel's way of telling me that I had to move on. To stop denying my feelings and do something that I need to do for me, an - and you, too. And then I stopped feeling guilty because I realized that she wouldn't want me to be all alone forever. It might be a bit soon for some people's liking, but I have to move on. "

Sam smiled at him. That was exactly what her sister had told her she wanted for him. She knew where he was going with this, or at least she where she hoped he was going.

He took her hand. "And I want you to know that I really, really meant it when I said I love you. It wasn't just the passion of the moment, Sam. I've loved you since our first kiss that time on the fire escape. I wish I had never let you go."

Sam knew this was when she fell in love with him, too.

"I mean, there's a gigantic part of me that will always love Melanie and I'll never forget anything I shared with her, but there's just as big a part of me that has always loved you. It's been all these years and I've always loved you. And now I don't have to hide it anymore. I want us to be together. I mean, if - if you do."

"I want that too, Freddie." She smiled at him and wiped a tear from her own cheek.

"We can start over. Maybe a couple of dates. You know, take it slow. We don't have to be all physical right away and have the PDA like a couple of horny teenagers, like when we dated in high school, but I don't ever want to be without you in my life, Sam."

"And I don't want to be without you, either. But don't you think we should keep it on the down low for a little while longer? Especially around David." She worried. "And then there's our mothers. I don't which one will flip her lid worse. My mom's an alcoholic lunatic and Marissa, well, she's just plain ol' bat shit crazy. But she's not been too bad, lately."

"Maybe you're right. We need to ease into this for his sake, and our families, but can I ask you to do me a big, huge favor?"

"Oh, here we go." She cracked with her smirk that he loved. "Mr. Needy." She sat back and crossed her arms. "We're barely back together and you're already asking for shit."

"Can you please let your hair grow out and quit dying it dark?"

"You really don't like me as a brunette?" She wasn't found of the short, dark hair but never changed it back for his sake. "I thought you liked it. I would have quit dying it months ago."

"Oh, that's not it, I love you and your hair no matter what. But it's just, well, how can I put this? I know you changed your look so you wouldn't look like Melanie, right?"

"Yeah, when I first moved back, I got tired of the neighbors and people at the grocery store and everyone I ever saw thinking I was her and I just thought it would be easier for everybody, especially you, if it was obvious which twin was which. Plus there was the baby to think of, he wouldn't have been able to tell us apart. Besides, can you picture the chiz that would have hit the fan if you accidentally grabbed my boob or slapped my butt thinking I was Mel, and she saw you."

Freddie smirked at the thought of how he always slyly copped a feel just to make Melanie giggle and squirm away. Somehow, Sam was just as 'feely' in his book, but never as shy about him doing it, unless they were in public. If he forgot and did that, she'd usually swat him in the head.

"Yeah, well as mild mannered as she typically was, there'd have been hell to pay for sure. She might not have had the street smarts, but Mel could throw down with the best of them, she was a Puckett, too after all. We'd have both probably had our butts kicked."

Freddie just laughed at the thought. "See the thing is, the Sam I fell in love with years ago was a blonde, and she never wore too much makeup or pulled her hair up in a pony tail or anything or acted all girly. Really, that's what attracted me to you in the first place, you weren't some prissy little daffodil. And my Sam wouldn't be caught dead wearing pink. And she ate bacon and fat cakes by the pack and hot wings by the dozen and she was the best at video games."

"Yeah, and she also didn't shower all that often or shave her legs." She shrugged. "But don't even think about asking me to stop either of those things. And I can still eat my weight in pork products. As long as I hit the gym a couple of times a week. Don't you forget it, either."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He smiled at her. "That's the only Sam I know."

"So, are we like, an official couple now?" She asked. "Or just sort of together."

"Well, way I see it, we were friends with benefits before and managed to keep that quiet, right?"

"Psh. Not as quiet as we thought. Obviously Carly told everyone she knew." Sam smirked.

"So we can be a couple and not announce it to the whole world for right now."

"And when the time is right, we'll tell everyone." He added.

"Sounds good. But you do have to let me do this once in a while. In private, of course." She leaned over and kissed him gently.

Before they each headed off for their respective beds, they shared another very mild kiss and the typical 'I love you's.'


	16. Chapter 16 - Marissa finds out

Chapter 16 Marissa finds out

Three weeks later, Sam and Freddie had yet to do more than share a few secret kisses here and there and cuddle on the couch after David went to bed on occasion. Both were dying to actually do something 'couple-y' together but they needed to get someone to sit with David. Their first date in years wasn't necessarily something they wanted to share with a pre-schooler.

Spencer was a good candidate, his son and Freddie's were friends all their lives and the boys had frequent play dates together but Freddie worried that if Marissa saw her grandson at Bushwell she'd question why she wasn't asked to keep him and her feelings would be hurt.

Pam was not an option. She took Melanie's death very hard and for them to admit they were going to do something together that actually resembled a date would likely make her upset at them both. This is something it would take her a while to get used to. Sooner or later they'd have to tell her but for now it was best to just keep this under wraps.

He thought maybe it would be best to just ask his mother to sit with him and make up some excuse as to where they were going. Letting her know they were doing something date-like was definitely not an option in his mind any more than telling his mother in law. Marissa would likely come around to the idea sooner than Pam, but still he knew his mom could be very closed minded. Even though she and Sam were getting along pretty well, he didn't want to give her an excuse to change her attitude and go back to treating Sam like dirt the way she did when they were teens.

Since Freddie was taking too long to arrange things, Sam, never one to pull any punches, decided it was time to take this bull by the horns. She called Marissa after she dropped David at pre-school one morning from the parking lot of the gym, figuring she'd have better luck with his mother than hers. After all, she was closer to Marissa than she was her own mother and had been for several years.

"Samantha?" Marissa answered the phone. "Is everything alright with David? Is Fredward sick? Does he have a tick attached to his bottom? Do you have a tick?"

"Relax, Marissa. Everyone's fine. I swear there are no ticks. There never _were_ any ticks." Sam rolled her eyes, even though the older woman couldn't see her. "And it's Sam, please."

"I'm sorry, Sam." Mrs. Benson calmed down a little. "I just get so worried about my boys. But I know you take very good care of them. They're so fortunate to have you involved with their lives. Now, what can I do for you?"

The grandmother had more contact with Sam the past years since she often took the youngest Benson by to visit. One thing the obsessive woman had to admit, Sam kept a much cleaner house than she ever imagined. And David was always spotless and the picture of health, despite the way his aunt allowed him eat.

"Um, Freddie and I were wondering if you could maybe watch David Saturday night." Sam laid some of her cards on the table, without sharing too much information. "We have some stuff we want to do."

"Why certainly. He's welcome any time." She was thrilled at the idea of spending time with her grandson and she hadn't seen him in over a week. "I have the whole weekend off. Do you think he'd like to stay the night?"

"I'm sure he would. But no tick baths." Sam reminded the grandmother as she thought of the idea of a whole weekend with just her and Freddie.

"Well, he'll certainly have to have a bath." Marissa gasped and prepared one of her rhymes about bathing on a daily basis.

"A plain ol' bath is fine. But he won't be needing the flea and tick treatment, OK?" Sam replied as she thought in the back of her mind 'he's a little boy, not a beagle.'

"Alright. Marissa huffed. "But he does get shampooed twice, right?"

Sam just played along with this silly idea, knowing she had to give Marissa some concession. "Oh, certainly. Double-poo every time. Wouldn't have it any other way."

"So, what are you and Fredward doing? Early spring house cleaning, shampooing the carpets, disinfecting the bathrooms?" This was apparently Marissa's idea of a wild and crazy Saturday night for two single people under thirty-five.

Sam simply told her. "Actually, we thought we'd just do something for us, like maybe go out to eat or whatever. It's been a long time since we went anywhere and did anything other than buy kid stuff or go to restaurants with kings, clowns and over-sized rodents."

"I see." Marissa suddenly got colder. "So it's like a date, then?"

"Meh, I don't like to use labels. It's just . . . Freddie needs to unwind, he's been working a lot of long days lately and he even went in to the office last weekend to get his presentation ready for the board meeting. Something about Pear's new interactive gps app or whatever. One of his co-workers had totally botched the programming. You'll have to ask him about it. I don't really understand what it does, I just listen to him talk about it because, well because, he's Freddie and he talks about chiz like that all the time and he has to talk to someone."

"I know, Sam. My baby boy works too much. I'm so glad you are a stay at home mo, er I mean aunt so David has a stable home life. I just worry about Fredward wearing himself out trying to support the whole family on just his salary." This was her dig at Sam's lack of a job or at least the younger woman thought it was. "And I do hope he's able to put aside for retirement and then there's David's education. I hate to think what college will cost in fourteen more years."

"Gheesh, he makes like a hundred eighty five thousand a year. And that's before the profit sharing and stock bonuses. I think he can manage. Besides, I fully plan on getting my own job as soon as David starts school. It's just, neither of us want to see him plopped into some nasty old, germ filled day care, with a bunch of perpetually sick kids, especially when he's so close to starting actual school."

"Of course not." Marissa agreed. "That is such wise thinking. You take such good care of him, Sam. I'll be home all weekend, just bring him by when ever you'd like."

Within two minutes of hanging up with Sam, Marissa sent Freddie a text asking him to stop by her place after work. She was worried he wasn't aware of the 'date' Sam had arranged and needed to discuss this with him asap.

Freddie walked into the apartment at Bushwell and was greeted by his mother only to have her give him a stern look. He immediately knew something was wrong. As soon as she started talking, he knew what the problem was.

"I had a nice phone call with Samantha this morning. She told me David would like to spend the weekend with me. I was thrilled, he hasn't stayed since right after the holidays. But then she told me you two had plans to go on a date. Were you aware of this?"

"It's no big deal, Mom. Sam and I live together for gosh sake. So we decided to go out to dinner or something just for the two of us. We want to do something that doesn't involve shopping for the house or drive through windows."

His mother gasped. "You live together? What's that supposed to mean? You two certainly aren't sharing a bedroom are you?" Marissa was horrified at the thought. She accepted Sam as her grandson's caretaker but the thought of her only child in a relationship with this young lady made her very uncomfortable. Especially less than a year after his wife's passing.

"Of course not, Mom." He was getting irritated at his mother's attempt at micro-managing his life. "Sam has her own room. She always has. And even if we were, it's no one else's business. We're both adults and we can choose what's best for us."

"Need I remind you that your wife, the mother of my grandson, has been gone less than a year. You shouldn't be thinking of dating period, let alone canoodling around with her sister. It was years after your father passed before I even considered dating."

Freddie shivered at the thought of his mother 'dating', especially the memory of the time when she dated Lewbert. "Oh, mother. Must you make this sound so crude? No one is canoodling. And Sam is my best friend. We both need some time away from the normal routine and we just thought it would be nice to go and do something without a five year old in tow. Personally, I'm so sick of eating at kid themed fast food places and pizza joints it's not funny."

Marissa made no change from the 'just smelled the cat's litter box' look that was on her face.

"And you know the way Sam eats. Taking her to one of those kind of places costs a fortune. It's more economical, not to mention a lot healthier, to just buy her a nice, big steak to begin with. At least at a steak house everything isn't deep fried and coated in batter." However, Sam always managed to find whatever was, and order it.

Marissa began to see his point. "But you don't really want to get involved with her again, do you? Don't get me wrong, Sam is a wonderful caregiver for David, but she's so - so rough around the edges. When it's time for you to start dating again, a long time from now, you should look for a nice, normal girl to settle down with."

Freddie was reluctant to respond but finally did. "Mom, Sam deserves a break, too. She's the one who takes care of all the household stuff while I'm at work. Running David to pre-school every day, play dates, doctor's appointments, dental check ups, taking him to visit his grandmothers. I swear she puts more miles on her car than I do on mine just running errands."

"I know, raising a child is a full time job. And Sam is so good with David. You are very lucky to have her in David's life. It's just that . . . " She was cut off.

"Plus she does almost all of the grocery shopping, then there's the cooking, the cleaning and all our laundry. She even makes sure our cars are both washed. How she ever finds time to take care of herself is beyond me. And no matter what time I get home, she always has dinner waiting, even if it's midnight, she makes sure I have something to eat. She's even taken to staying up to eat with me just so we can talk."

"Oh, dear. You're not working like that every day are you?" She worried. "Fredward, you mustn't wear yourself out. You have a child to raise."

"It's not just about me, Mom. The point is, Sam has changed and in more ways than you even see. I know she used to be different but she's about as normal as it gets any more and, honestly I really don't know if I ever want to just up and bring another person into David's life. I'm seriously starting to think about a future with Sam, I mean, when the time comes."

Marissa knew he was thinking about not only himself but his child as well. "As long as you're not getting in over your head."

"Mom, I've known Sam for years. We've been best friends since middle school, you know that. We're just going to do something the both of us really need and then we'll see where it goes. If sometime in the future we decide we want to be more than friends . . . well, we'll simply cross that bridge when we come to it."

As much as it pained her to admit it, her son was right and Marissa came to respect his decision even if she thought it was a bit soon for him to be dating.


	17. Chapter 17 - The date Pam

**No hookups yet. Lemons will be in their own story,and I am working on one for this scenario. Might be up in a week. A little drama coming first.**

Chapter 17 The date / Pam

"So where are we headed. You're being suspiciously quiet about things." Sam and Freddie had dropped David off at Marissa's apartment and, after stopping in to say a few words to Spencer and family, were headed across town for their date night. "Fredward! Do I need to remind you that I don't like surprises?"

"You'll see in a minute, my dear. We're almost here." He tried to flash her that smile that melted her normally cold exterior.

Sam knew they were only blocks away from one of her favorite all-you-can eat steak houses. It was her favorite because on Saturdays they had a special on steak and crab legs, even though she thought crab was too much work for the small amount of edible goodness that was in the legs, she loved the taste. Especially if she could talk Freddie into cracking them open and digging out the meat for her.

"Dude. Are you serious? We're going to Cowboy Dan's?" Sam was shocked and excited. They never went there with David because the place was always crowded and loud and the little boy didn't like most of the food. Sam hadn't been to the place since she took her mom there for her birthday. "That place is always packed on a Saturday, we'll have to wait in line for hours."

"Actually, I stopped in the other day and made us a reservation."

"Huh? They don't take reservations, I've asked. What are you talking about?"

"Well, I asked the manager personally and she assured me there would be a table for us at 7:00."

"So that's why you were in a hurry to leave Spencer's."

"That and he was fooling around with the ice maker on the refrigerator. I figured it was only a matter of time before the smoke started rolling."

Freddie pulled into the parking lot and the two made their way into the front door of the restaurant. The line was nearly 20 people deep, but Freddie spotted the lady he spoke to previously. He took Sam's hand and led her to the desk.

The manager lady recognized him and shook his hand. "I'll have your table ready in a few minutes."

During the handshake, Freddie slipped the woman some cash and she quickly hid it in her jacket pocket.

"See, it'll just be a few minutes." He said to Sam, taking her hand. "You'll have a plate full of meat in no time."

"Yep." She agreed. "I also see you bribed them into holding us a table. "Pretty smooth, there, Fredhead. I just hope they don't run out rib-eyes."

"I'm sure you'll put them to the test, baby." He smirked and squeezed her hand.

After their dinner, the two decided to see a movie and were sitting in the theater parking lot scrolling through the movie choices on his phone, trying to make their decision. Sam had her eye on a film about spies and terrorists that she thought would have sufficient plot. Freddie was surprised she didn't suggest the alien robots fighting off the zombie ninjas. The spy movie looked better to him.

"That one looks good, but it doesn't start for over an hour. We'll have to find something to do. Did you want to do any shopping?" He asked. "Walk through the mall?"

"Actually, I have a better idea." She gently took his phone and placed it on the dash of the car.

Freddie just raised an eyebrow as she moved toward the center of the car.

"Well, lean." She said. "Don't make me come clear over there."

They shared a few kisses and talked for a while before going into the theater. Of course, by this time Sam was ready for an extra large tub of popcorn and some nachos. They didn't return home until after midnight and were both glad the child wasn't still waiting to be picked up.

In the morning, Sam was up first and had made waffles before Freddie came down from his room. "Wow. Real, home made waffles." He was surprised. "Haven't had those in years."

Sam approached him and put her arms around his neck. "Yep. And if you can keep an eye on these last couple, I'll get started on some omelets, I just got some fresh eggs from Tanya on Friday. This is gonna be the best omelet you've ever had. So when did you tell your mom you'd be picking up David?"

"Not till after 4."

"We've got the whole day to ourselves? Well, six hours. This is almost a record." Sam had some ideas of things they could do together. "Over six hours for just us."

"Well, I do have some work stuff I need to finish up."

"Seriously?" Sam just gave him a funny look. "We have the house all to ourselves, no cartoons, no appointments, no distractions, and you want to work? Dude. I know we just got back together but you mean to tell me you'd rather work than snuggle up somewhere and kiss?"

"But, um, I guess I could do the work later. Maybe after dinner."

"Or it could just wait until you get back to the office on Monday." She smirked. "Now, let's eat and get on with the snuggling."

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Pam stopped by the house on her way to play bingo on a Sunday afternoon. Sam was in the middle of cleaning up the living room while dinner was in the oven. The grandmother had hitched a ride with a friend and intended to have Sam drive her to the bingo hall because her car was broken down again.

"Man, what smells so good?" The older Puckett asked, strolling in without even knocking just like she always did. "It smells like ham heaven in here."

"It's ham loaf with pineapple dressing. And three cheese scalloped potato casserole. Something new I saw in a magazine. Like a meatloaf made out of ham, life doesn't get any better." Sam replied with a smile.

"Wish I could stay for dinner, but there's a jackpot with my name on it down at the bingo hall. You've become quite the little housekeeper, Sammy. Sure didn't get that from me. Only cooking I do is to calling for take out." Pam flopped down on the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table. "Sit down, girl. Gheesh, do you clean constantly? You must be taking lessons from Marissa. This place looks like a freakin' museum already, what's left to clean?"

"I like to keep the house presentable. That way I don't have to be embarrassed to open the door. And we do have a little kid running around here tat I have to pick up after constantly. Besides, can you imagine the chiz, she'd raise if Freddie's mom showed up and it looked your place."

Pam just gave her a stink eye. "So where's my grandson?"

"Oh, uh, Freddie and David went over to Bushwell. His mom needed to move the refrigerator to clean behind it or some chiz. Freddie recruited Spencer for some help lifting, so David's probably playing with Stephan at their place."

"I wanted to hear all about what he's been doing at that fancy pre-school his dad put him in." Pam was disappointed she missed the boy. "I still don't see the point, the kid's already gonna spend at least thirteen years in school. Why make him start so damn early?"

"You want anything?" Sam asked. "Coffee? Soda? There might even be a couple of those hard apple ciders left from when Freddie and Gibby hung out watching cheesy shark attack movies that day you and I took David to the potato chip factory."

Pam just shook her head and Sam sat down in the chair opposite her mother, wearing a bigger smile than Pam had seen her sport for quite a while.

"Heeeyyy! What's got you in such a good mood, kiddo? If I don't miss my guess, I'd say someone has a new man in her life. My little girl gettin' some action?"

"Mom!" Sam scolded. "I am not discussing my sex life with you. But, no I haven't been getting any action. I am sort of seeing someone, though." Sam wasn't really ready to come out and tell her mother, or Freddie's mother, that they were officially a couple just yet. Although, Marissa had some clue they were getting close, Pam did not. "We're taking it slow, we'll get there, we just want to make sure everything's perfect before we take it to the next level."

"So, the guy's holding out on you, kid? Well, I guess you can always handle things on your own." Pam smirked. "Just keep plenty of batteries on hand. Man, it's a bitch when you get half way through and run out of juice."

Sam just shook her head at her mother for being so crude.

"So what's this guy's name?" Pam tried to at least act interested. "Do I know him? Is he a stud? Maybe have a single brother? A younger brother?"

"He doesn't have any brothers and it's not that serious, yet. We've only been on one actual date." She and Freddie had agreed that they wouldn't tell anyone until they both felt the time was right. "We're keeping it on the down low for a bit, that's all. Just till we're sure about things."

"On second thought, I think I'm ready for that drink. You can tell me all about this Mr. Wonderful when I get back." Pam stood and headed to the refrigerator. "Maybe I can give you some tips about how to get him to give it up. You don't want to be wasting your time with some guy that's lousy in bed. Hey, the guy's not some religious fanatic is he?"

"Freddie and I might take David to church once in a while, but do you really think I'd take up with that kind of guy?"

Pam was no sooner through the kitchen door when Freddie came into the house and walked over to Sam. "Hey, babe. Mom's taking David to the park and stopping for fro-yo. She's bringing him home later. We should have a couple of hours all to ourselves." He bent over and kissed her deeply, a hand on her side. "We could finally get to . . . "

"Hope you don't mind, I found your fat cake. Stash." Pam cut off his thought and walked back into the living room holding a bottle in one hand and a fat cake in the other to witness the kiss. "What the hell is all this?" The middle aged woman exclaimed.

"Pam?" Freddie jumped and tried to play innocent. "Wh - what are you doing here?"

Sam was embarrassed that she and Freddie were caught in the act. Especially when her mother wasn't aware they were even dating. "Mom just stopped by to visit David, but since he's not here, I um, I guess we could bring him by your place tomorrow." She jumped up and was already trying to escort her mother to the front door. "Geez, Mom, look at the time. Don't want to be late for bingo. I'm going to call a cab for you."

"You two want to explain why you were just swapping spit?" Pam shoved the fat cake in her mouth , but a mouth full of food wasn't about to cause her to drop the subject.

"It's not like that." Freddie shook his head. "You see, Sam and I, um, Sam and I are, uh . . . " He looked to his girlfriend for what to say next.

"Freddie and I are dating." Sam approached him and took his hand. "We weren't going to make it public just yet, but uh, now you know." She said nervously with a very small smile. "Let's not make a big deal out of it."

Pam just stared at them, remaining calmer than either thought she would. "How long?"

They stared back silently. Sam knew from the look on her face that her mother was beyond wazzed off and was slowly burning. She'd seen the slow boil of her mother's fury far too often. The pressure cooker that was Pam Puckett was about to cook over.


	18. Chapter 18 - The wrath of Pam

Chapter 18 The wrath of Pam

"How long have you two been sneaking around? Were you cheating on my Melly? I'll cut your damn dick off and hot glue it to your forehead, you nerdy little bastard." Pam made a lunge at Freddie only to be stopped by Sam.

Sam held Pam around the waist as she struggled to get to Freddie. "Mother! We were not sneaking around. And no one was cheating on anyone. We've only been dating for a few weeks. And barely dating at that. Now settle down!"

"Oh, I don't want to hear it from you, missy. How dare you?" Pam pulled free and propped her hands on her hips, glaring at her daughter. "How could you be screwing around with your sister's husband? I know you two did the humpty dance when you were horny teenagers, but that was before he was married to your dear, innocent sister." Pam glanced at Freddie. "Hmph! And people call me a slut."

"I'm not screwing around with anyone." Sam defended, getting fed up with the whole conversation. "We're dating. We sleep in separate rooms. Hell, we haven't even seen each other naked in years. That just might have changed if you hadn't barged in uninvited today, though."

"Well, I don't see what's stopping you? Your sister's not even cold yet and you two are back to doing what you did since you were in high school. This is why you really moved back home wasn't it, you little skunk bag? I swear if I find out you two were messing around behind her back, I'll kill you both."

Rather than fight, as Sam typically would, she hung her head. Freddie could tell she was on the verge of a breakdown. One of the few times he ever saw Sam defeated, this was exactly the reaction she was afraid people would have to their relationship. More than anything, this angered Freddie. From the time they were teens, he never appreciated the way Pam treated Sam and made snide comments about her but he always did his best to make peace rather than antagonize the woman by feeding into her emotions.

"Holy Hell! Why don't you two just go and screw right there on her grave? Just plop your chubby little ass right up there on her head stone and hump away." Pam made a crude hip movement and Sam's tears began. "Fuckin' whore!"

"Pam! That's enough!" Freddie spoke up, seeing Sam start to tear up. "I can bring David by your place next weekend. But you've said enough to your daughter right now. I think it's time for you to leave." Freddie pointed to the door. He had never actually asked Pam to leave his home before, no matter how drunk she got or what she pulled but this was beyond his last straw.

"This worthless bitch isn't my daughter!" Pam roared, stomping off toward the door. "My daughter died a year ago. This little tramp that looks like her isn't anything to me." She turned and pointed to Sam. "Of all the rotten, low life, skanky shit you've pulled over the years, Samantha Joy Puckett, this is the worst. Messing around with your sister's husband! I never want to see your face again."

By now Sam had run from the room and was in the kitchen crying. Never before had her mother hurt her so bad. Pam was no kind, caring mother but she never hurled an insult like this. To be accused of something she didn't do, something she'd never even considered, simply broke the young woman's spirit.

"Pam! Go! Now!" Freddie pointed toward the door again and glared at her. "You aren't welcome in this house until you can talk to Sam like a human being and apologize to her. And now that I think of it I'm really not so sure I want David around someone with your attitude, either. Maybe it's just best if we all give you some space. When you can apologize, we'll come by."

"You can't keep my only grandkid from me." Pam turned and argued, like she was going to intimidate the man in his own home. "I have a right to see him. He's my family. I'll get a lawyer. I'll take him from you."

Freddie knew she had no chances of ever doing such a thing. So he remained calm, took a deep breath and made a simple reply. "I can if I choose to, I'm his father and I'll decide what's best for him, and right now what's best doesn't involve being around a woman who would talk to her own child like you just did. Honestly, Pam, you should be ashamed of yourself. Now, I'm going to ask you nicely once more, please leave my home before I have to get the police involved."

Pam knew he wasn't bluffing. The determination etched on his face was clear. She left the house in a huff and slammed the door behind her. Freddie immediately went to the kitchen and sat down on the floor beside Sam, who had planted herself in front of the refrigerator with her back to it. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, which were drawn to her chest.

He put his arm around her and she leaned over and sobbed into him "Th - this is what I was afraid of, Freddie. M - Melanie's been dead for almost a year and I'm still a home wrecking whore just because I'm in love with her widowed husband. I - I can't help it, I've been in love with you since eighth grade, Freddie. Why does it have to be a crime to be with the only man I've ever truly loved?"

"And I love you, sweetheart. But Sam, you've done nothing wrong. Pam just needs some time to adjust to this. You'll see, she'll come around."

"Psh. You don't know your mother in law very well. The thing that hurts the most is that I never would have even thought about falling for you when Mel was alive, and I pushed these feelings down and damn near drove myself crazy over it, but I'm still the bad guy in Mom's mind. It doesn't matter if it's today or ten years from now, she'll never accept us, Freddie."

"Sam. You're not the bad guy. There's no bad guy. Even Pam's not to fault. She took Melanie's death really hard. She's still grieving and she doesn't understand how we're both trying to move on. Especially with each other." He held her close and rubbed her back. "Honestly, she'd probably be just as wazzed off at me if I was dating anyone else."

Sam tried to calm herself as Freddie comforted her. "She was always Mom's favorite. I've told you that. The only time Pam ever even tried to act like a mother was when Mel was around. When it was just me and her, I could starve to death, be freezing in the house with no water or electricity; hell, the house could have burned down around me she could give a damn. But as soon as she thought Mel was coming home, she'd turn into Martha freakin' Stewart."

"I know, baby." He left her vent and held her tight. "I know. Let's try to forget about your mom. Come on, we can go sit somewhere more comfortable."

"Maybe she's right. Maybe it's too soon for this." She sighed.

"And that's why we're taking it slow. You know what I think, I think we need to give Pam some time and ease her into this whole idea. Or maybe you two should talk to that counselor Carly made you both see years ago. I guarantee you, she'll come around. She just needs a little time to process all this."

"You really think so?" Her voice cracked. "I don't know."

"My mom did. She knew about our date and she didn't lose her mind, right?"

Sam sniffed and looked up at him with a half smile. "Well, let's face it, she has a pretty low bench mark as far as lost minds go." She really didn't hate Marissa as much as she enjoyed pointing out her odd habits. Over the years, Marissa had become more of a mother to her and her late sister than Pam ever was and they all knew it.

He didn't mind her making the joke at his mother's expense this time. "And I think it's time all our other friends know, too. We're not doing anything we should be ashamed of."

"Spencer and Monica, Gibby and Tasha, Carly and Shawn, even the neighbors, they all need to know and if any of them can't accept it, then we don't need them in our lives."

"Um, the thing is, Carly already sort of knows." Sam confessed. Freddie just looked at her funny. "So I'm sure Spencer does, too."

"I talked to her the day after we first kissed and she was concerned for us. So when she called the next time, after we had agreed to be together and take things slow, I told her we worked everything out. I know we said we were doing to keep it a secret but she's my best friend, Freddie. I had to tell her."

"It's OK, baby. I sort of might have left it slip to Gibby, too when he was here watching movies the other weekend. He was saying he couldn't believe we hadn't went out yet, you know given our track record and I told him about our arrangement."

Sam just shrugged. "At least Gibby can keep his mouth shut for the most part. If Carly's habits hold true, she's already told everyone about us. She told everyone about us having sex years ago, right?"

"Probably the day she found out." Freddie nodded in agreement. "Let's just give your mom some space. I'll take David over next weekend and have a heart to heart with her. I've always been able to get through to her because I don't get loud and fight and argue with her like everyone else does. I just stay calm and rational. It's the one thing she's never figured out how to counter. Seriously, what's the worst that can happen."

"I don't know. Uh, she'll kick you in the balls?" Sam shrugged.

"Maybe I should stop by the sporting goods store and get a cup."

Sam snickered. "Why do you always have to be the peacemaker, Freddie? Can't you just accept the fact that Pam's a wicked old witch and ignore her? I mean, if she doesn't want anything to do with us, maybe we should just cut ties and consider ourselves lucky. We both know we're going to end up changing her diapers some day. If she lives that long."

Freddie always had a special way with Pam and he hoped that, in the presence of her grandson, after she had some time to cool off, she might be a little more restrained. "Well, I guess if it was just us, that would be OK, but it'll be a little hard to explain to David why he can't see one of his grandmothers any more. And they are pretty close."

"Yeah. Closer than I thought my mom would ever be with a kid, I can tell you that. It's probably because he's Mel's son. If I had a kid, she wouldn't even care."

"Well, maybe some day we'll put that to the test." He took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply.

 **Seddie hookup coming soon. Will be a separate story.**


	19. Chapter 19 - A heart to heart with Pam

Chapter 19 A heart to heart with Pam

The next weekend, Freddie sent Pam a text to see if it was alright to bring David to visit her. Her reply was simply 'yes'.

He knocked on her door and as she answered, she greeted the little boy but gave Freddie the worst dirty look he'd ever seen. For nearly an hour, she talked to the child, offered him cookies and ignored his father's presence. Freddie was getting quite uncomfortable and decided it was soon time to go. He certainly wasn't going to leave the kid alone with Pam for fear she'd try to poison his mind against them.

"So, um, looks like it's soon time to go, Bud. We have to take Aunt Sam to pick up her car from the oil change place by four."

Pam shot him an evil eye at the mention of her daughter's name. "Figures. You can't even change the oil in a car." She sneered. "Afraid you'll get dirt under your manicured, little fingernails?"

"I can and I would have, but I decided to bring David over here instead." He glared back with an evil gleam to his eye and a smirk. "I don't know when we might get time to come over again. It may be a long time before you and David can see each other. Who knows."

This threat gave Pam a small taste of his other side. While normally the peacemaker in the family, Freddie had a little seen cold demeanor, not unlike his mother, when he had it in for someone. Freddie picked up the boy's jacket and stood, motioning for his son to put it on. "C'mon, kiddo."

Funny thing was, this attitude made Pam actually respect him just a little more. "Freddie, wait. I wanted to tell you I've thought about what we talked about last week."

"Oh! Well, that's a refreshing change of pace. Someone thinking around here." He snarked with an evil smile.

She glared for a second or two, but softened when she looked at her grandson. "I'm not happy about this whole mess, but if you and Sam are, I guess I can't stop you."

"You're right, Pam. You can't. And I appreciate your saying it, but I really don't think this is a good time to discuss all that, though." He said with a stern face. "And, honestly, you need to talk to Sam about it rather than me. She's the one who was hurt last week."

Pam certainly didn't want to apologize to Sam. After all, Pucketts weren't know for it. "It's just that. Ah, dammit, boy this has been a really crappy year and I don't really see how you two can be acting like everything's the way it was a long time ago."

"Like I said, this isn't something we should be discussing right now." He motioned toward his son with his eyes. "You need to speak to Sam about this. You know, I actually think a visit or two to that therapist you guys used to see together might even be in order. Just to make sure everything is clear."

"No, that'll just lead to a shouting match. It always did. You know Sammy and I can get into it pretty fast. I guess it's because we're so much alike."

"Pam. I'm going to tell you one last time, whether it leads to a fight or not, or it's in front of a counselor or just over lunch, you need to apologize to Sam before things can move on." He stood fast in his conviction. "She was hurt last weekend more than I ever saw her hurt and I will do anything I can to protect my family and that includes Sam. And if that means we _all_ have to simply stay away, then it does."

Without even raising his voice, Freddie had backed the middle aged woman into a corner. She knew he would hold fast until she at least apologized to Sam. Whether Sam accepted it was anybody's guess.

"Alright." She conceded. "I'll try to call her after while. Maybe we can meet up for coffee or something."

* * *

The time came for David Benson to register for kindergarten. The paperwork came in the mail from the school and, of course, filling it all out fell to Freddie. With all the other responsibilities Sam took on, he didn't mind; and if there was one thing Sam detested it was filling out endless forms that all basically asked the same thing.

On the day of registration, Freddie took the afternoon off to accompany his son to the school and he asked Sam to come along since she was used to dealing with not only the staff at the pre-school, but the public school system in general due to her former job in California. Sam was only too happy to go along so she could inquire whether the school was accepting applications for aid positions.

"Man, this place has changed." Freddie remarked as they walked into the school building. "I really like the new look. Wow! Check out the library."

"I forgot this is where you went to Elementary school." Sam remarked. "I guess that was before you guys moved to Bushwell."

"Yeah. Mom sold the house the summer before I started middle school. Really I think she just wanted to move because of too many memories, you know with my dad and all." Freddie didn't talk about his father much, but Sam knew he died not long before the two of them met.

"David Benson." A teenage girl came in the library where about a dozen soon to be kindergarteners and their parents were assembled, waiting for their appointment times.

"Come on, pal. She's looking for you." Sam took the boy by the hand and led him toward the blonde girl.

"Hi, David. I'm Rebecca. Do you like to read?" The girl, one of several who was helping the teachers manage the deluge of five year olds, asked.

"Uh-huh." He replied quietly, nodding his head.

"Well, I'd like to take you with me to a special classroom and get you to read a story with me. Would that be alright?"

David looked at Sam for permission.

"Go on. That sounds cool." Sam bent over and whispered in his ear. "She'll lead the way." His aunt left the girl take his hand.

"Yuck." The boy replied. "I don't like holding hands with girls."

The teenager giggled at the little boy's reaction. "Alright, I'm going to take David to do the reading evaluation and write the alphabet, then we're going to visit the art room. He'll be with me the whole time. One of the teachers will come over and speak to you and your husband in a little while and then we'll all meet up in the cafeteria for some juice and a snack in about 45 minutes."

"Um, oh he's not my hus . . . " Sam tried to correct the girl, but she turned and led the boy through a big, yellow door before Sam could formulate a complete sentence.

"David Benson's parents?" A young teacher came into the room about twenty minutes later.

Freddie and Sam stood up. "I'm his father. Fredward Benson. This is his aunt, Sam."

The teacher formed a funny look. Calling a parent's significant other 'aunt' or 'uncle' was something she had seen more than once. "Is his mother here? Or did she have to work?" She asked coldly, implying Sam and Freddie were both unemployed.

Sam could sense Freddie's hackles go up, "Um, his mother is deceased. I'm her sister. I help take care of David when his dad's at work." Sam spoke up to diffuse the situation. "He's a software engineer at Pear, so he works a lot."

"Oh, I see. I'm so sorry, Mr. Benson. Forgive my ignorance." She blushed. "Please come to my classroom, this way." The teacher led the adults through a different door. "So, may I ask, how long has David's mother been gone?" She quickly glanced Freddie up and down, and she began wondering if he was dating yet.

Before he could even answer, she began a subtle flirt. Sam noticed and immediately went on the defense.

"Almost a year." Freddie answered, settling his attitude. "I'm grateful that Sam has been able to help us out. I don't know how we could ever get along without her." He instinctively took Sam's hand, subconsciously implying she was more to him than his son's aunt.

This didn't go unnoticed by either of the women, and Sam raised an eyebrow at his motion; still the teacher continued with the flirting. "It must be so difficult to be in a situation like yours." She touched his forearm. "I'm sure you worry about your little boy having a stable home life. Children who have two parents tend to do better in school as well, you know."

Sam knew this was hogwash and was already getting tired of the younger woman. "Meh, we both did alright. Neither of us had a dad when we were growing up. This guy is an MIT graduate and he has two masters degrees. Probably have a doctorate in a few years the way he's going."

"Yes, and Sam is the best partner I could ask for. Honestly, I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for having her in my life. In both our lives." Freddie knew what the young teacher was up to and it wasn't working.

The teacher, who introduced herself as Megan, picked up a folder that was lying on a small desk outside her classroom door and read a few forms. "So it looks like David did extremely well with the reading evaluation. After he visits the art room, Rebecca will bring him back here and he'll go over some math basics with me to see where he places while you two go and meet the school nurse. I'll share the results of the math test with you when we'll get to see his art work in the cafeteria in a little while."

After looking around the classroom, more of Megan's flirting and answering a few dozen more questions, Freddie and Sam went on to the nurse's office and filled out even more paperwork, repeating for at least the third time when he had all his vaccinations and check ups.

"Gheesh! How many dang times do we have to tell them he's had all his shots?" Sam complained as the two made their way toward the cafeteria, following the green line on the hallway floor. "Seriously, I swear they're trying to trick us up or something."

"I know. I know I've filled out that exact same form a couple of times and they've got at least two copies of the records from the pediatrician's office." Freddie agreed. "I think it's safe to assume he's been vaccinated against everything known to modern medicine anyway, thanks to my mom."

"I just want to see what kind of snacks they have. At the school where I used to work they always had the best chocolate and peanut butter cookies."

They walked into the lunch room and were greeted by David and the teen girl who was his chaperon. "Hi Mom and Dad." Rebecca greeted, still not knowing the whole story. "David made something in the art room he wants to show you. Go ahead and get your picture." The kid ran off toward the table where he was previously sitting with some other kids until he saw them coming in the door.

"Um, I'm not really his mom. I'm his . . . " Sam tried to tell the girl, but she was cut off by the teacher coming over.

"I'll take it from here, Rebecca. You may go and start the next student through. So, Freddie and, er, Miss, um, Sam is it? David did extremely well on the math test. He'll be in the advanced kindergarten section, which is my class."

"Would have expected nothing less." Sam smirked and ruffled Freddie's hair like she would have when they were fifteen. "Smart as his dad."


	20. Chapter 20 - Telling the kid

**This is the continuation of what started at the school. I had to split it up because it got way too long for the last chapter.**

Chapter 20 Telling the kid

Freddie continued to talk to the teacher and Sam noticed the younger woman's continued flirtations, which were now getting stronger. She felt her fists clench and her nails dig into her palm.

"Here's my picture." The boy ran up to them, distracting Sam's thoughts of bouncing the other woman's head off the floor.

"Nice. Is that you and your friends?" Sam took the picture showing three people, one female and one dark haired male and a smaller person, all holding hands. She was far more interested in it than the teacher's babble by this time.

"No. It's our family, you and me and Daddy." He proudly announced. Apparently, he had either seen them being close or wished they were. Sam knew the time had come for the boy to know about their relationship.

"Go ahead and help yourself to some snacks. I must go and meet another set of parents. Did either of you have any questions?" By now, the young woman talked to Freddie only. "Perhaps I should give you my cell number in case you need to reach me outside of school hours. I'm available anytime."

Freddie shook his head "Um, no that's alright, I'm sure the school contact system will be sufficient. There's always email. I actually prefer email."

The teacher looked dejected, but wouldn't give up. "I'm really looking forward to having David in my class. And I'll see _you_ for orientation the week before school begins." She touched Freddie's arm again.

"Yeah, one question." Sam grabbed Freddie's hand quickly. "Do you maybe know if they're hiring anyone for teacher's aides? I promised myself as soon as David started school, I'd get back to work."

"Well, yeah. They're always looking for classroom assistants. Sometimes they have to start off as unpaid volunteers, but then when something opens up they post it on the web site." She was silently praying this would scare Sam off, this obviously alpha female intimidated her. "You have to pass a background check, have a clean criminal record and all."

Sam knew all of her juvenile infractions were inadmissible since she turned 18. "Sounds good. I'll stop in the office and ask for the paperwork. You know, now that David's going to be in school all day, I'm going to need something to do, even if it is volunteering for a while." Sam smiled at her. "I'd rather work at the school than some old folks home or something."

"Oh, um, th - that's great." Megan sighed, knowing Sam would be the 'front line' person in regards to David if she was at the school every day.

"C'mon guys, we've taken up enough of the nice teacher's time." She held the hands of Freddie and David and headed for the school lobby. "Nice meeting you, Megan." She called over her shoulder at the teacher, being very uncharacteristically chipper and sweet. "I hope to be seeing more of you, maybe I'll even get to help in your classroom. Wouldn't that be great?"

"Sam what the chiz was all that?" Freddie asked quietly as they all walked from the school to the parking lot.

"I told you I wanted to get back to work after David started school. Do you think I want a job flipping burgers or serving tacos or something? I'm not the 'welcome to Mall-Mart' kind of girl."

"Not that. The hand holding and all. I don't mind. Really I don't mid, I kind of like it. It's just we've never done that in front of. . . "

"Did you see the drawing? And you mean to tell me you didn't notice that chick flirting with you?" Sam said through clenched teeth.

"Well, yeah. She did seem a little forward, but it's not like she asked me out or anything. Although she did offer me her number. Wait, Sam are you jealous?" He whispered back, trying to get a rise out of her.

"Shoosh, yeah, I'm jealous. That had to be the hottest kindergarten teacher I've ever seen and she was eyeing you up like I do a hunk of prime rib. I just wanted to be sure she didn't get any crazy ideas. The nub belongs to mama."

"Why are we whispering? Did someone say a bad word?" David asked as Sam opened his car door.

"Nah. It's all good." Sam smiled at him. "No bad words. Just boring grown up stuff. Hey, how about we stop at Pizza World on the way home? Daddy and I have some stuff we want to talk to you about now that you're a big boy and going to be going to real school."

Freddie's eyes widening in panic, know what she was thinking.

"Do you really think we should tell him about this?" Freddie questioned to Sam over the roof of the car quietly. "I know it's hard hiding things, but do you think he's ready?"

"We can't keep it from him forever." She shrugged, before opening her door and getting into the passenger seat. "Who's ready for some pizza?"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the three were settled into a booth at the restaurant, Sam sitting with David and Freddie across the booth from them.

"Can we get extra bread sticks? Please?" The boy begged, pulling on Sam's shirt sleeve as she looked at the menu.

"Sure, buddy. I love the bread sticks here, too." Freddie replied. "Sam, I assume you want a meat-eater's pizza for yourself."

"We've been coming here since middle school, you think I'd eat anything else?" She closed the menu. "All I know is, they better not be out of the bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers like last time or I'm talking to the manager."

"At least there's a vegetable hiding in there somewhere." Freddie smirked, making the kid laugh.

After the waitress took their order and brought them drinks, Sam started a conversation. "So, what did you think of school?"

"The art room was awesome." The boy replied. "I want to be an artist like Uncle Spencer."

"Well, that might be something we need to think some more about, but I'm glad you liked it. There's actually something Daddy and I need to talk to you about. Now it's kind of a big thing, but we think you're old enough to understand." Sam tried to set the pace of the conversation.

"Yeah, um, well, you know how your friend Jeremy's dad has a girlfriend?" Freddie began.

The kid nodded.

"And, it's just that, well, Aunt Sam and I, we've kind of decided to, like, uh. . . You know, we've been friends for years, since we were kids ourselves actually, and, um. . ."

Sam shook her head before rolling her eyes, making Freddie even more nervous as he continued to ramble. "Well, when two grown ups hang out a lot, especially if one is a boy and one is a girl . . . Bu - but they can both be boys or both be girls, there's nothing wrong if they are. Well, what I'm saying is, sometimes they start to, uh, they start to feel like . . . they feel like. . ."

"Oh, geez, this is worse than listening to some politician." Sam cracked, gaining the kids attention. "David. You know your dad and I are friends, right? Not just because I'm Mommy's sister but we're really good friends."

"Uh-huh."

"We've been friends since before Daddy even met your mom. And since we're both single and we're friends, we're going to start being more like, well, more than friends. So you might see us hold hands or kiss once in a while or maybe sit close together sometimes. Understand?"

The boy just looked at her and then looked over at his dad.

"You see, what Aunt Sam is trying to say is that we're going to be a couple, not just two people. But it really doesn't change anything about how we feel about you and how things work around home, alright? Everything is going to be exactly the same."

Sam put her arm around the boy. "But for now, we'll still be Dad and Aunt Sam. We just wanted to let you know so it isn't weird for you if you see us acting a little different around each other."

"Are you guys getting married?" The boy asked, innocently.

Freddie nearly spit his iced tea out all over Sam and coughed to get his composure back.

"Maybe someday, kiddo. But for now, we're just going to do stuff together like couples do. Alright?"

Sam just raised an eyebrow and looked at Freddie. She silently mouthed "Married. Really?"

He just gave her a loving look, a message she got loud and clear that some day a proposal was coming, some day.

* * *

A week or so later . . .

Pam was already privy to the information of Sam and Freddie's relationship thanks to her barging in unannounced.

Marissa had some idea they were considering rekindling their relationship, but it was time to tell her they were officially together before David did. Sam knew exactly how to butter up the nurse and planned a dinner that she would approve of consisting of tofu casserole, lots of green things and sugarless desserts. This would at least serve to remind the older lady that Sam was a truly different person than she was in her teen years.

David was spending the day at Spencer's with his son, dinner was in the oven, the salad ingredients were prepared and in the refrigerator and Sam was trying to pull on some nice clothes for their adult dinner. As she was putting in some modest diamond solitaire earrings that Freddie got her for Christmas, her phone signaled he was calling her.

"Where are you? You were supposed to be home almost a half an hour ago." She answered. "Your mom will be here any minute. This needs to be perfect, Fredbag."

"Sorry, babe. I got stuck behind an accident on the freeway on ramp. Some idiot tried to pass a truck and ended up rear ending a bus. Everything's all messed up. I'm going to have to take a detour and they just got the guys car pulled out."

"Well hurry it up. I'll try to entertain your mom, but she'll probably be giving all the bathrooms the white glove inspection by the time you get here." Sam moaned as the doorbell rang. "And speaking of which, here she is."

"Everything's going to be fine. Mom likes you and you guys get along great. Now calm down just relax, sweetie. I'll be there as soon as I can. I love you."

"Love you more." She sighed and headed for the door. "Drive safe." Sam realized how much she sounded like his mother as she grabbed the door knob.

"Hi, Marissa. Come on in." She opened the door, tucking her phone in her back pocket. Sam did, in fact, get along well with Marissa and both had come to a mutual respect for one another, she was just nervous to make this announcement, especially given her own mother's outspoken feelings on the subject.

"Hello, Sam." Marissa smiled. "May I take my shoes off?" She asked, as it was her habit not to wear shoes in the house. "I brought my house slippers." She held up a small bag.

"Please." Sam nodded and motioned her to the nearest chair. While she wasn't as rabid about the idea, she enjoyed loafing around the house with no shoes herself and just took the 'no shoes in the house' rule as an excuse to be comfortable.

"I hope you haven't went to too much trouble for dinner." Marissa said as she changed footwear.

"Nah. I just put something simple together. Hey, Freddie called a minute ago. He's running late. Something about an accident, some dip wad rear ended a bus or some chiz. Do you want to sit down in the living room?"

The two women sat and things were silent for a little while before Marissa spoke up to break the ice. "Sam, I really must commend you on how spotless this home is. I know how difficult it is to keep a tidy house with a child. When Fredward was five, it was nothing for him to get two or three toys out at once and those little building blocks were horrible. They got everywhere."

"Well, David's a good boy. He always picks up after himself." Sam shrugged. "And Freddie can still be messy. You should see his office, especially if he tears apart one of the computers to put in some new hardware or something. But, I don't give too much grief over the toys. Kids have to be kids. Both of them."

They shared a laugh and after another minute or so of silence, Sam now spoke up. "You know, Freddie was really lucky to grow up with a mom like you."

Marissa wasn't sure if she was serious.

"Sure, you got a little obsessive about some things, and I used to make fun of Freddie because of it when we were kids. But, you know, my mom just sort of ignored me and all, an - and well, looking back, I wish Pam had been a little more like you."

"Why, thank you, dear." Marissa said quietly, as they heard Freddie's car pull into the driveway.

Marissa stood, preparing to greet her beloved son at the door and Sam did the same. Without warning, Sam gave Marissa a big hug. "Thanks for everything."

Freddie opened the door to see their hug and, as nervous as he was to tell his mother about him and Sam being together, he immediately knew the evening was going to turn out fine.

 **I just had to add the bit wit Marissa. As fun as she is to write crazy, I also enjoy her and Sam actually becoming close and them seeing each other as eventual family.**


	21. Chapter 21 - A talk about the future

Chapter 21 A talk about the future

A year and a half later . . . .

Sam and Freddie had made it known to all their friends and colleagues and, even Mrs. Benson completely accepted their relationship. Pam still acted funny around them and she and Sam visited the therapist at least one a month to help repair their relationship. Unfortunately Pam could hardly give them the time of day, except when her grandson was around, when she put on a good act.

Freddie was very involved with his career and was on the fast track to another promotion. Sam was hired as an aid at David's school, where he was now a first grader. But she was thinking of something more as of late. The shortage of teachers had made her wonder just how much different it would be to teach instead of simply being a classroom assistant.

To say the couple had been intimate would be an understatement. Sam wound up moving into Freddie's bedroom after a few months of their being together and, to all appearances, they were just a normal, suburban couple. Freddie tried to take down any pictures of him and Melanie, but Sam insisted they remain on display, so without knowing the whole story, even visitors to their home who saw the wedding pictures might have assumed Sam and Freddie were married.

Sam's hair was blonde again and was growing back to it's old length. It still barely reached her shoulders, but she definitely looked a lot less like Pam and more like her teenage self.

Sam was starting dinner for her and Freddie one weekend. David was spending the night at Spencer's with his best friend, giving them a little time to themselves since Freddie decided he didn't need to go into the office on a Saturday, which was unusual for him.

"Need any help, sweetie?" Freddie came into the kitchen and kissed Sam's cheek as he slyly cupped her butt cheek.

She still jumped slightly as his touch, but she enjoyed his caresses. "Nah. It'll be a little bit, though. I just put the meatballs in the crock pot. You about done in there?"

"Yep. Our new interactive big screen and theater quality surround sound is all set. Hey, why don't we just eat dinner in the family room tonight?"

Sam nodded. "Get out the big bowls. I want to have plenty of food without coming back for seconds."

"You never did get to finish telling me about what happened at school yesterday. You were just at the good part when Gibby called to tell me about his new pet possum getting lost in the air conditioner vent."

"Oh, that's right. Well, you know that Megan gal, David's kindergarten teacher from last year?" Sam asked, loading the last of her utensils into the dishwasher.

"Yeah, don't remind me. I swear I know what it's like to be stalked now. Did I tell you I ran into her in the grocery store last week. She's just as flirty as ever. Maybe if I started wearing my wedding ring again, it would stop her."

"Well, wait till you hear this. I talked to Ted Franklin a couple days ago."

"Cool. How's he doing? I hear he got promoted out of Ridgeway High the other year."

"Same ol' Ted." Sam shrugged "Anyway, it turns out Megan's been running around with the boys' gym teacher from the middle school, and he's married. To principal Franklin's oldest daughter. Or should I say assistant-superintendent Franklin. So, guess who got herself on permanent cafeteria duty."

"Dang. That gal's got issues. I swear she's the neediest woman I ever saw. But wait, I thought you liked cafeteria duty."

"I do, but most of the teachers hate it." Sam shrugged. "I try to slip into the kitchen and sample what they're feeding the kids. And give them a few pointers on how to actually give it some flavor. One more bit of news from Ted, old Mrs. Prune Face is finally retiring at the end of the year."

"You mean Miss Prudholm? My third grade teacher."

"Yeah, what did I say?" Sam smirked. "So now they're going to be down another teacher and they've already got permanent subs in, like four classrooms already."

"Phew. I can't picture Harrison Elementary without Miss Prudholm. She seemed old back when I went to school."

"Man, she must be older than dirt. I've worked with her once in a while. Nice lady, but the face of a Shar-Pei. I'll bet she was into the tanning thing when she was younger. Now she just looks like a leather recliner with glasses and a poodle perm."

Freddie just rolled his eyes at her comparison.

"You know, after talking to Ted I got to thinking about something. And I did some checking, it turns out I have a lot of credits toward my degree, you know from when I lived in L.A. and took classes down there. They've loosened up the requirements to pass the state teacher's exam the last couple of years. And Northwestern Seattle school district is kind of desperate for teachers. So Ted, he wants to meet with me to go over what all I'd have to do to, what kind of training and all to, you know, get the job."

Freddie stifled a laugh, which came out more like a snicker. "You! You want to be a teacher?"

"Yeah. And what's so suckin' funny, nub bag. Just because I was never that fond of teachers or want to try something that seems like it would be unnatural for me, doesn't make it a joke."

"That's sort of what I was thinking it was." He tried to compose himself, but couldn't.

Sam was dead serious and lightly jabbed at his shoulder. "Quit laughing, dip nuts. I'm serious!"

Freddie nodded and settled himself.

"I know it would make things rough for a little while. I imagine I'd have to totally leave the aid job so I could have enough time to go to classes myself. And then still maybe take a few evening sessions. But it's not like I really make that much to begin with. And Monica could pick David up after school and he could stay at their place until one of us gets home."

"I'm sure he'd love that. He's been glued to Stephan since we all went to Yakima on vacation together this summer."

"But I guess it's just a dumb idea, though. Hell, I barely got through the classes I took and that was years ago. I don't really know if I even want to go back to college. Besides, I know it would be expensive. Thing is, I do have a good bit saved up. You've always paid me really good for taking care of things around the house and all. I never really had anything to spend money on, except when I bought my car."

"I wish you'd still let me pay you." He frowned. "I mean, just because we're a couple doesn't make cleaning the house and looking after David any less of a job. At least you let me put your car on my insurance policy."

Sam just shook her head. She had refused his payment for her being a nanny after they decided to become a couple. "I'm sure I could get some kind of student loan if I really needed it. And maybe I can take most of the classes at community college. That really doesn't cost too much. That's what I did in L.A. I might have to borrow a little bit from you, but I'd pay you back."

Freddie had long since quit giggling, Sam was serious and had given this a lot of thought. "Sam, if this is what you want to do then I support it. And you don't need to pay me back. What's mine is yours, you know that, right? We're a family, family supports each other."

"Look Freddie, just because we're dating and my name is on your bank accounts, doesn't mean it's my money or anything. I know it's just on there so I can sign checks or whatever if you get sick or you're out of town or something. We might be sleeping together but . . . "

"No, Sam. We're partners in this, we share everything. Speaking of which, I was thinking last week, we should talk to a lawyer about getting your name put on the house. You know, in case something were to happen to me."

"For God's sake, Freddie. You're barely in your thirties and the picture of health. What's going to happen to you?"

He just cocked his head. Melanie was the picture of health, too. Six months later she was going through chemo. His own dad never saw thirty-five.

"Alright. Point taken." She held her hands up in defeat. "I just hate to see you pay some stuffy lawyer a couple thousand bucks to write up some goofy piece of paper that says if you croak, I get your chiz. You already have a will, isn't that enough?"

"Not when it comes to real estate, or child custody, I'm afraid. And I want to go over the will, too. I haven't updated it since right after Melanie passed. And I really want to set up a trust for David's college fund like the one I had. I'll need to appoint someone as a trustee if something happens to me, I'd like you to handle it."

"Of course, Freddie. But why are you worried about this stuff all of a sudden?"

"Because I'm the same age my dad was when he first got sick. My mom reminded me the other day that it's been 25 years since he . . . " He sighed, remembering his father. "I just want everything to be taken care of in case something unplanned was to happen. For David and for you. You're my partner in all this, you'd just be out on the street and David could wind up in foster care if we don't have everything set up right. Sure, you could petition for custody being his biological aunt, but it's just easier to have all this stuff on paper in the first place."

"You do realize that in the eyes of the law we're already married, right?" Sam had thought this through more than once. "It's like, we live together, we have joint bank accounts, we've certainly consummated our relationship."

"Psh, yeah, a lot I might add." He slipped an arm around her waist, seductively. "Speaking of . . . "

She slapped his shoulder playfully. "I'm serious, Fredwad. We do everything else just like a married couple. How the crap could anyone fight that? And who would? It's not like you owe anyone anything. You paid off your mortgage years ago and you've never even borrowed money to buy a car."

"Are you sure about all this stuff?"

Sam nodded.

"So how do you know so much law stuff all of a sudden? I have three degrees and I didn't even know that kind of junk."

"A couple of those community college electives I took when I lived in L.A. might have been law classes. With my relatives, I figured the more I know about the law, the better off I am. Besides, my mom's pulled that common-law stuff on more than one guy over the years. If she was married half as many times as she claimed she was to get some dude's money, she'd have her own reality show."

"I should have known." He snickered and gave her a kiss.


	22. Chapter 22 - Big news

**This is a continuation of the conversation from Chapter 21, where Sam and Freddie are discussing, among other things, common law marriage and their future. Some big news, too. Read on!**

Chapter 22 Big news

Freddie had been thinking about the subject of marriage himself, or rather, how he might propose to Sam. This certainly wasn't the type of setting he pictured for this occasion, but he spoke anyway. He knew she wasn't the kind for a mushy romantic vacation to Niagara Falls or anything to set the mood just to propose.

"We could just, I don't know, get married for real. Everyone thinks we already are, and apparently we are to the law. It would just make things official."

"So you really think I could pull it off? The teaching thing. You know, if someone had even thought I'd be considering being a teacher when I was fifteen, I'd have kicked them in the shins, or some place higher." Sam totally missed his generic proposal, figuring he was just speaking hypothetically.

"Sam, sweetheart, listen. I want to see you do whatever it takes to make you happy. If you want to be a teacher or open a restaurant or hell, even just stay home to take care of David and the house, I'm perfectly fine with it. You don't need to feel like you have to work. I make plenty to support us both and still put David through the best college in the country."

She just shrugged and looked down. "Maybe it's just stupid. See there's one other thing that we really need to talk about. It could derail the whole going back to school thing to begin with. I feel kind of bad because I actually mentioned it to Ted before we had a chance to talk about it. I sort of had this feeling and I had to be sure before I said anything and got you all fussed up.

"I don't get fussed up." He defended. "When have I gotten fussed up?"

"Psh! I know how you are, you get fussed up when we put on the last roll of toilet paper."

Freddie just huffed. The woman had a point, he did blow small things out of proportion.

"See, I've actually wanted to tell you for two days, but you've been working so much and you've been so tired when you get home, I didn't want to say anything and worry you."

Freddie looked confused. "I can't help it I'm a worrier."

"But Ted said it was no big deal to the district, they couldn't discriminate because of it and I could re-apply in a year or so if I had to. He'd still put in a good word for me. Jeez, he practically guaranteed me a job if I wanted it. Whenever I'm ready."

Freddie just stared at her, not having any idea where this may be going.

"Ah, chiz, how do I start this conversation?" She turned away from him with a sigh. "Um, this wasn't so hard last time. I just kind of came out and told John. But I guess that really didn't work out so well, did it?"

Freddie now panicked. Was she preparing to leave? No, John beat on her and she left L.A. for her own safety. Was it health related? The pale look of her face and the fact that she wouldn't look him in the eye made him breathe funny. "Sam. What's going on? You're kind of scaring me here."

"See, I knew you'd get all fussed up. I haven't even told you yet and you're already acting all weird."

He just touched her shoulder to turn her to face him. "Sam!"

"Uh, you know how there's something that happens every month and well, when a woman, um, when a woman gets . . . well, it's a pretty good indication when it doesn't happen." She trailed off before he gently took her hand. He could see her tearing up, even though she was staring at the floor and it was unusual for Sam to get emotional. He'd only seen her act that way when her sister was sick or when her mother got all nasty the time she first found out they were dating.

"Are you alright? Oh my God, Sam. Please don't tell me you're sick or something." He was now worried that he'd lose Sam the way he lost his wife. "What is it? Please talk to me, sweetheart." He vaguely remembered her not feeling well last weekend. She stayed home from church because she threw up, or was it the weekend before? Damn his work schedule, maybe she had been sick for weeks. Him working six days in a row, leaving before anyone else was even out of bed most mornings, he was hardly ever home to notice. Today was the first day he had taken off other than Sundays in over a month.

"Sam, I'm here for you whatever it is. Please tell me." He begged. "I'm getting really worried, here."

"I'm not sick, Fredward." She glanced up at him and took a shaky breath. "In fact, I went to see my doctor the other day. She says I'm as healthy as a horse. All things considered."

"All things considered? What's going on, baby?"

"That's kind of it." She said quietly with a half smile. "Baby."

"What's it, baby?" He asked, thinking she was using a pet name.

She shoved his shoulder playfully. "I just told you, dork. A baby. I'm pregnant, Freddie. There's gonna be a baby. Baby."

For a few seconds his heart stopped. Freddie's vision went cloudy and his breath hitched in his throat. The next thing he knew he had his arms around Sam and his lips pressed against hers.

"Is that all?" He breathed a sign of relief when his lips finally left hers.

Sam shrugged, glad he wasn't upset.

"B - but how? Well, I know how. Because we have lots of sex when I'm not working fourteen hour days. It's just, you're on birth control, isn't it supposed to be impossible when you're taking that stuff?"

"Yep. Supposedly."

"Well then how did you even get pregnant? Did you miss taking a pill or something? I don't understand, you were always so careful to take it every day with breakfast. And you never miss breakfast. Even if you're puking your guts out sick, you always managed to eat breakfast."

"I said the same thing to Dr. Ramirez. So she looked at my little pack of pills. Remember about three months ago when we had to switch drug stores because the old place closed and I said the new store's pills looked different? Turns out, there must have been a little goof up with my records when they transferred over. Apparently, instead of giving me birth _control_ pills, they gave me the stuff they give women who are actually _trying_ to get pregnant. A high dose hormone or some chizz. I guess that's why I've been so fickin' horny I could bust. At least according to what I read online, I didn't really say anything to the doctor about that part."

"You have got to be shitting me!" He gasped. "Not that I'm complaining about the, well, you know . . . horniness or anything. I just wish I could be home a little more to help you out with it and all."

"You do your best when you are home, though." Sam smirked at him and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "So, anyway, the doc traded the old pack of unused hormone pills for pre-natal vitamins. She says I've got a pretty good case to sue the pharmacy, too. It's just, I don't know, it's not like it's a bad thing, right? I mean, if I'm ever gonna have my own baby, I want it to be with you."

"Well, I'll admit it's kind of unexpected. But no, it's not really anything bad. I - I kind of like the idea of us having a baby together. I just thought maybe we'd be married first." Again, he mentioned the 'M' word.

Before he could say any more, or propose properly, she reached into her purse, which was sitting on the counter, and pulled out a printout of the ultrasound. "Not really too much to see now, just kind of a blob, but the doc assures me it's a baby alright."

"I - I guess I'll take your word for it. I can't really tell what this is a picture of."

"Me neither but it's official, we're having a baby, Freddie. David's gonna be a big brother."

Freddie was overjoyed but finally left go of her. "Oh, crabs! How are we gonna tell David."

"Psh, David's the easy part. He wants to be a big brother just like his buddy Stephan. I'm more worried about telling your mom." Sam sat down on a kitchen chair.

"Oh, key-rist! She's gonna shit a brick." He sighed and sat down beside her. "Look at the way she almost passed out and carried on when she found out you had moved into my bedroom."

"Hey, that was her own stupid fault. If she wouldn't have insisted on personally steam cleaning every square inch of carpet in the whole freakin' house with that expensive assed vacuum cleaner of hers after David got that cold last winter, she wouldn't have realized we turned my old room into a play room."

Freddie nodded in agreement.

"Still, she's not as bad as Pam. The old witch barely talks to me anymore, even at the counselor's office all she does is grunt and glare at me most of the time."

"Well to hell with her. If she doesn't want us to be happy, then we don't need her." This was a change from his usual attitude of trying to get Sam and her mother to be more civil with each other.

Before things could get derailed again, he dropped to one knee in front of her. "I know this is sudden and I don't have a ring or anything yet. But Samantha Puckett, will you marry me?"

"You know I will Freddie. There's no other guy on this planet that I'd rather marry, but you're not just proposing because of the baby thing are you? Wait, were you really serious before?"

"Chiz, yeah. I want to marry you, Sam. Baby or no baby. I've been thinking about this for a while now. I love you more than ever. And I want you to be my wife. I was dead serious before and I don't care who likes it or who doesn't. All I know is I love you, every bit of you." He touched her belly.

"Good thing, because there's gonna be a helluva lot more of me to love before long. Last time I gained about twenty pounds in the first trimester. That's why I force myself to run and go to the gym twice a week. I don't like chubby Sam. And my pants are already starting to get a little tight. I think I might need to go shopping for some bigger leggings. I'm certainly not running around in baggy ol' sweat pants for another six or seven months."

"Speaking of which, how far along are you?"

"Doc says about 7 weeks. When Aunt Flo didn't come, I made an appointment for as soon as they could get me in. I've been regular as clock work for years, up until the last couple of months, ever since they changed my pills. But things have just felt off and then the missing period, I was kind of worried something was wrong in there. You know because of the miscarriage and all."

"That's not going to be an issue, is it?"

"I'm told everything should be fine but they want to do some extra blood tests and check the placenta real good with the ultrasound just to rule out any problems."

"So when is your next doctor's appointment. I'd like to go with you. If that's alright."

"Not for six weeks, and that would be great if you could come. Can you get time off?"

"Shoosh yeah, Pear's actually got a pretty liberal paternity policy. Besides, with the overtime I've put in the last month and a half, I could take the whole week off and still not be even. Hey, do you think we should tell somebody? Somebody that's going to be supportive. That is, not one of our moms."

"Your mom will be fine. We'll just schmooze her up with a fancy, gluten free, low carb dinner. But maybe we can tell Carly?" She asked. "She's probably still at work, we could probably catch her on video chat."

"I'll go set it up. You send her a text and tell her to log on." Freddie nodded.


	23. Chapter 23 - Sharing the news

Chapter 23 Sharing the news

Sam sent Carly a simple message. 'Have something to tell you, get on chat asap.'

"Eeeeeee!" Their brunette friend screeched not three minutes later. "A Seddie baby!"

"Carly!" Sam scolded. "You know I hate that word."

"Oh, please. It's not like I said the word panties or anything."

"Gaaah!" Sam groaned as Freddie laughed in the background.

"Shut it, nub." Sam turned and pointed her finger at him. "Or you're sleeping on the couch tonight. I don't care how horny I am."

"I don't need to hear that kind of talk, you guys." Carly clucked. "I can't believe you still get all pissy about the word Seddie. WebiCon was what, almost twenty years ago."

"Or the word panties." Freddie snickered.

"That's it!" Sam crossed her arms and turned to face the wall, I'm not talking to either of you. "Have fun chatting with each other. And you can have fun sleeping on the couch tonight, Fredguts."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, baby." Freddie put his arms around her from behind. "Really sorry."

"Forgiven. For now." She turned and gave him a small kiss. "I can't stay mad at you." She sniffed back a tear. "Especially when you do that thing with your tongue. Mmmm-mmm." She shivered.

"I'm sorry, too." Carly piped in. "But I really don't need to hear about your private moments."

"What was that, Shay?"

"Nothing. Nothing. Just finishing up some work stuff." Carly played innocent. "So when?"

"Should be sometime in October." Sam shrugged. "At least that's what my doctor says."

"Well, I'm coming home for the birth. My best friends don't have a baby just any old day."

"Um, actually Carly, you might want to see about a trip before that." Sam added. "I'm going to need a maid of honor."

"Wha, oh my God! Are you serious? You're getting married, too? Ahhhh! This is too much."

"Well, if you don't want to do it, I suppose I can ask Tasha or my friend, Bethany from the gym. Or his cousin Amanda, wait, nah, not Amanda. She's too weird."

"You ask anyone else and I'll fly back home just to kick your butt, girl. Pregnant or not." Carly snapped back. "So when's the big day? Show me the ring."

"No ring just yet, but I'm sure Fredlove here will be taking me to the jewelry store real soon. I guess we'll have to figure some stuff out about the actual wedding itself. I'm already five weeks in, so it'll have to be soon or I won't fit in the dress the rate I'm going."

"How about the first day of summer?" Freddie suggested.

"Fredward!" Sam huffed. I'll be, like four or five months along by then. "I'll be as big as a frickin' house. No, no, no, the wedding needs to be in April or something."

"Sam! It's March 6th for goodness sake. You can't get married in April. It took me like, fifteen months to plan my wedding. Even that was rushing it and I had Shawn's mom and three sisters to help me."

"Maybe for you. But I don't need some big, fancy coronation. And you guys had, what a hundred and fifty or so people at your wedding. I'll be good with a fifteen or twenty."

"How can you even say that? You can't just have some little piss ant ring exchange ceremony. You're marrying the only man you've ever truly loved. This is a big deal, Puckett. You need the whole gambit, a church, bridesmaids, flowers, fancy invitations and the biggest cake we can find."

Sam just sighed as Freddie pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Carls. I know you mean well and all, but we really don't need to make such a big deal out of it. How about you plan a nice big baby shower and let us have a simple little wedding with just those closest to us. Really, I'm not comfortable with all the fuss. Especially since I'm knocked up and all. And it's going to be obvious before long."

"Maybe it would just be easier if we went to Vegas and got married by Elvis or something." Freddie tried to be the voice of reason. "I could take a couple of days off, we could make it a nice, long weekend. I'm sure David could stay at Spencer and Monica's. Maybe Carly could just meet us there."

Carly knew she was fighting an uphill battle that she wasn't going to win. If she pushed too hard, they would simply elope the way Pam had a couple of times. "Alright, alright. I can see you two have your minds made up. I tell you what, send me a list of who you want to invite and when your date's going to be and I'll see what I can do."

"We'll take care of the invitations and finding a place." Freddie volunteered, knowing _he_ would be the one to actually do this.

"And you said something about a nice, big cake." Sam smiled.

Freddie kissed her cheek. "The biggest, baby. I promise."

"Awww, you two are sooooo darn cute!" Carly cooed. "Hey, I've got to go, I have a meeting in, like, two minutes. Call me tomorrow, alright Sam? And I want that list! And a date. First thing in the morning."

"Sure thing, Carls." Sam nodded.

"Bye, guys."

"Bye, Carly." Freddie said and cut the video feed. "Man, she's going to make a big deal out of this isn't she?"

"Huge." Sam shook her head. "You sure we couldn't we just elope?"

* * *

Less than two months later, Sam and Freddie's wedding was all set. They had decided to go the simple route, just invite their closest friends and family, and have the service performed by their minister on a Saturday afternoon.

Carly was, of course, not happy that they had simplified what she termed 'the biggest day of their lives'. Such a momentous occasion deserved as much fanfare as possible in her book, not taking the shortest route possible.

She had flown in for the wedding with her husband and was staying at Sam and Freddie's. Freddie had agreed to spend the night before the wedding at Spencer's because Carly insisted he couldn't see Sam the night before the wedding.

"This is jank, Freddie." Sam, sitting up against a pile of pillows on their bed, argued as he packed a bag in their room. "Why do we have to spend the night before our wedding apart? It's not like we're strangers or something. I'm three months pregnant for cheese sake. Stupid Carly and her old fashioned traditions."

"We had to give her something, didn't we?" He shook his head as she stood up. "We cut down the wedding to less than twenty five people, we're having it in the community center because the church was installing new carpet, Gibbs is doing the photography. You even picked out the plainest flowers possible. If we didn't give in on one thing, I think she would have broke down and cried."

"I guess." Sam pouted and put her arms around his neck. "I suppose I can live without you for one night. The worst part is, we can't even slip in a quickie since I have a doctor's appointment today."

He just shook his head. "Well, that and Carly's in the next room fixing her hair."

"Hey, I can be quiet as a mouse, you know that. And fast." She rubbed her body against his. The pregnancy hormones were definitely making Sam feel some desires. Daily or even more frequent sessions had become their normal over the last few weeks.

"Right, and you don't need a yammy full of my DNA for the doctor to find." He reminded her before changing the subject. "So, Shawn's keeping David company while we go to the doctor . . . "

"And then we stop for lunch at the Chinese buffet." Sam added, cutting him off. "General Tso, here I come."

"How could I forget lunch?" He gasped, feigning surprise. "Then we swing by Spencer's, and you girls can bring Monica and Stephan back here for a sleepover with David so I can stay in his room, sequestered from you tonight."

"And then Shawn takes your car back over to Spencer's for the bachelor party, while we have girl time here."

"You sure you're ok with having two six year old boys around while your bridal shower goes on?" He questioned as they walked down the stairs.

"Freddie! It's not like it's a big deal or anything. It's just gonna be me, Carls, Monica, maybe Tasha if she gets back in time and a couple of my friends from the school and yoga. Oh, and Wendy if she can get off work. I'm the only single one besides Lisa, and she's gay. It's not like things are going to be all wild and crazy. I swear to God there won't be any male dancers or anything. I doubt there will even be anything stronger than wine coolers in the house. And none of those for me and the kid." Sam patted her belly.

He nodded in agreement.

"Besides, the boys will probably just spend the night playing game-box upstairs anyway. How about you guys over at Spencer's with Maggie? That's got to cramp the style of a bachelor party, having a toddler around."

"Psh! She's three, she goes to bed at like, seven. Besides, you know all we're going to do is watch sci-fi movies and eat junk food, anyway."

"Aw, man. Now all I'm going to be thinking about is what kind of snacks you guys will have. You'll call and tell me if you have any of that special crispy crust pizza from the Greek place next to the pet store, right?"

"Um, yeah, I guess." He didn't know why he agreed to that idea, but did anyway. "Well, let's get going. Your appointment is in less than an hour." He looked at the time. "Maybe this time, we'll get to see more on the ultrasound than that blob of cells on the last pictures."

"Carls!" Sam called toward the stairway. "You coming? Or should we just text you copies of the pictures. I'm sure your hair is perfect." Sam never was able to figure out how a girl with hair as nice as Carly's could spend so much time trying to make it better.

The brunette practically ran down the steps. "Shoosh, yeah. I can't miss the first look at the baby. "So you were saying the doctor is going to use some new 3-D ultrasound?"

"That's what the nurse said when she called to remind me of the appointment yesterday."

"I just hope we can tell whether it's a boy or a girl." Carly grabbed Sam's hand. "You know, so we can have a cool gender reveal party. It's what everyone is doing now."

"Um, actually, I was hoping to just kind of keep it simple." Sam said as she saw Carly's sad face. "But I know how much this means to you, so we can start planning the party as soon as we get back from the doctor's office."

"Yay!" Carly exclaimed. "Now I was thinking about it and . . . " She trailed off and pulled Sam aside to share some details.

Freddie and Shawn both breathed a sigh of relief as Carly's face lit up at the prospect of planning another party.

"C'mon, you guys. We're going to be late." Freddie took Sam's free hand, saving her from more party planning. "We're leaving now, David. Come give us a hug."

The little boy put down his hand held video game and hugged his dad and aunt before they headed out the door.

"Be good for Uncle Shawn." Sam said and ruffled his hair. "And you know the rule, no candy or sweets until after your nap."

"And I made you a nice ham sandwich last evening. It's in the refrigerator for lunch." Freddie told him.

"Um, not anymore." Sam said quietly. "I had that at about four this morning with a can of whipped cream."

"Seriously. I knew I shouldn't have left that where you could see it." Freddie huffed.

"No big deal, I'm sure we can find something." Shawn told them as he kissed Carly goodbye.


	24. Chapter 24 - A surprise

Chapter 24 A surprise

 **For those who have been waiting for a twist or two. Just something minor and a wedding.**

An hour and a half later . . .

"Gheesh, what's taking so long?" Sam whined as her, Freddie and Carly all sat in the exam room waiting for the doctor to come in. "I'm starving. And freezing. Why did I have to take off all my clothes and put on this goofy paper thin gown? Couldn't they just have had me pull my shirt up to scan my belly like they do on TV?"

"There's extra sensors needed for the 3-D imaging, that go on your back and side and the nurse told you Dr. Ramirez was running a little late, she had an emergency c-section first thing this morning." Freddie said, holding her hand.

The doctor came in a short while later, pushing a large machine with several monitors. "Sorry I'm late, guys. I hope the images will make up for your wait. We're going to get a good look at this little guy, or girl. Looks like you're all ready for me, Sam."

"Hurry up, doc. I'm cold and I have to pee." Sam replied.

After introducing herself to everyone, and asking a few questions about how Sam was feeling, she set up the equipment. The doctor dimmed the lights and began to run a long wand over Sam's baby bump.

"So, can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?" Carly stared at the screen, like she was watching the most dramatic movie in the world. "You can tell me, I'm organizing their gender reveal party."

Sam just rolled her eyes.

"I need to run some more scans before we know for sure." The doctor seemed to study the screen harder and pressed a few more buttons, flipping between different angles and magnifications.

After another minute or so, Carly began to get impatient and stood to look at the screen over the doctor's shoulder. "Oooh, is that his little thingy?" She pointed to the screen. "Sam, I think it's a boy, I can see his little wenus. It's so cute. Actually it's kind of big for a baby. I mean, wow, the little guy's hung."

"I'm pretty sure that's the umbilical cord, Carls." Freddie took Carly's hand and pulled her back toward the chair beside his with a roll of his eyes. "Let's just be patient. The doctor will tell us when she knows."

"Give me a minute." The doctor ticked away at the touch screen and shifted the angle of the scanner on Sam's abdomen. "I just need to check one more thing. Something isn't quite what I was expecting."

Sam began to get worried. After one miscarriage, she was anxious to make sure everything was alright. "What's going on, doc?"

"Oh, nothing to worry about Sam. Just making sure I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing." The doctor replied. "Now did the parents want to know gender today, too or would you prefer I just tell your friend in private?"

"Eh, might as well, tell us all." Sam replied. "As long as everything's alright in there."

"Oh, yes. Everything's fine, Sam. Not a thing to worry about, and I can definitely tell you this one's a girl." She froze the image on the screen and shifted it to the other screen. "But . . . "

"But what?" Freddie tried to squint at the screen, not being able to see right. "Buts aren't good. Why is there a but? I don't like buts."

"Yeah, he's more of a boob man." Sam smirked, earning her a huff from Freddie and making Carly blush.

"Well, I hate to have to say this, but I can't tell for sure with the other one." The doctor replied as she pointed to the image in the center of the main screen.

"Other one?" Sam questioned. "I thought you said it was a girl. I know this is really blonde thing to say, but I'm confused."

"Well baby A is a girl. She's facing this way and we can plainly see her groin." She pointed to the second screen. "Right here. But baby B is lying on its side and facing the other way so I can't get a good image of it's lower abdomen. I've scanned clear down your sides and I just can't get the angle right to focus in. I'm so sorry, guys I just can't say for sure. "

"Baby B, Baby A, wait, are we having twins?" Freddie asked with a gulp.

"Oh, yes. Positively. And I'd say with the fact that Sam is an identical twin herself, that the chances are very high the other fetus is a girl and that they're maternal twins as well. But we'll have to get you back in to be certain. Let's wait a week and see if they shift around any."

"Tw - twins?" Freddie stuttered, not able to process this new information.

"Yes, and they're both perfect from everything I can see." The doctor nodded.

"Twins!" Carly shouted. "No wonder you're so big! No offense."

"Offense taken. I know I'm all belly now. Thanks for the reminder, Captain Obvious. Man, I'm going to look like a dang hippo, aren't I?"

"Actually, Sam. Given your petite size, you'll probably appear a little larger than most ladies since you're carrying twins. But it's all perfectly normal. Even very small women can safely carry triplets with no long term effects."

"Well, thank God the wedding is tomorrow. I doubt I'll fit in that dress in a week the rate I'm going." Sam whined.

"But you're still the most beautiful girl I know." Freddie kissed her forehead as the doctor began to pack away her equipment.

"Good answer, Benson." Sam smirked as Carly gave him a thumbs up out of Sam's line of sight.

"If you didn't have any questions, I'll see you back in a week for another peek at that shy baby in there." The doctor smiled at them. "Please call if you need anything or have any questions."

That evening, as the girls had their get-together at the Benson house, Freddie, Spencer, Gibby, and Shawn were sitting in Spencer's living room watching sci-fi movies. After the second one, they were waiting for a pizza delivery and sitting around talking.

"Did Freddie tell you, Sam's having twins?" Shawn asked Spencer.

"Yeah, what a shock. I can't imagine twins. Little Maggie was a handful as a newborn, how are you guys ever gonna handle two of them?"

"If they're anything like David, they'll be easy." Freddie remembered how good his son was as a baby.

"You know, I actually had a dream about you guys having twins." Gibby started. "And in my dream, I had twins, too. And then, like, fifteen years later, they hooked up. Wouldn't that be awesome? Our kids getting married."

"You don't have any kids, Gibby." Freddie shook his head.

"Wouldn't that be awesome, though?"

"Um, yeah." Freddie just rolled his eyes, knowing that the thoughts would make Sam literally wretch.

* * *

The next afternoon, the newlyweds were enjoying their wedding reception in the community center's dining room. The cake had been cut and all that was left was for them to open their presents and head out for their three-day trip to Canada to visit the fat cake and bacon museums.

"Everything's going to be different now, Sam." Carly said quietly while the blonde eyed up the pile of presents, trying to decide which one to open first.

"Eh, I guess." Sam shrugged. "The only thing I can see being any different is now we have to think about 2 cribs and 2 strollers and 2 car seats, kind of 2 of everything."

"No, silly. I mean with you and Freddie. You're married, now. Husband and wife. Mr. & Mrs. Benson."

"I'm actually still getting used to that part, Mrs. Benson. But, better to share a name with Marissa than my own mother." Sam picked up a square box, wrapped in silver paper and shook it.

"I still can't believe she flaked out and didn't come to your wedding." Carly shook her head. "At least she sent a present."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure that it's a real treasure." Sam said sarcastically. "But at least my Aunt Connie and my 3 favorite uncles are here, that's all that matters. Besides, if Pam's as sloshed as Carmine said she is, I wouldn't want her around anyway."

"I'd hate to be her as mad as he is, I can tell you that." Carly replied. "I swear, I never saw a vein actually throb in someone's forehead like that."

"Yeah, that's the same look he gets when one of his business associates has to leave town unexpectedly." Sam nodded. "I'm just glad I'll be out of the country for a few days. I don't want to be a witness to anything."

"So, you sure everything's going to be good with David? You know, staying at Spencer's and all for almost a week. I mean, he might have two kids of his own, but I don't know how comfortable I'd be with leaving my six year old with Spencer."

"Yeah, he'll be fine. Spencer's kids are still alive. It'll just be like one big sleepover for the boys. And Marissa's going to be looking in on things, making sure he's getting his homework done and all. You know, because, well, like you said, Spencer's in charge. "

"And I guess I won't see you again until fall." Carly grabbed her BFF into a hug. "Shawn and I fly back east in the morning. But I'm coming back a week before your due date. Just in case."

Sam all of a sudden glazed over.

"I get it Sam, you're a little excited thinking about your wedding night. So what kind of romantic thing do you have planned? I'll bet you made a trip to Stacy's Secrets, didn't you?"

"Psh. What's there to get excited about? It's not like Freddie and I haven't been knocking boots since we were seventeen. And I'm as pregnant as an old milk cow. I'm certainly not going to fit into any slinky lingerie. I just was thinking that six months from now, I'm going to be a mom. Not just and aunt playing the part of a mom. I'm going to have my own kids."

"I'm so excited for you, Sam." Carly hugged her again. "Almost makes me want to have kids. Almost."

"Man, there's going to be diapers, wet cribs, spit up, breast feedings at all hours of the night." Reality sunk in and Sam's panic level increased. "Never sleeping again. How the frick did I get myself into this mess?"

"Not really selling the idea of reproducing here, buddy." Carly smirked. "Well, except for the breast feeding thing. By the looks of you already, it would do wonders for my bust line."

"Why are you always complaining about the size of your chest?" Sam questioned. "You have nice boobs."

"Alright, enough booby talk. Point is, you're not in a mess. You've just married the only man you've ever loved and you're having his baby, well babies. This isn't something to panic about. It's something to celebrate."

"Mind if I steal my wife?" Freddie walked over to the women, interrupting their conversation. "Sam we need to open presents, some of these people probably want to get home."

"Just your grandparents, Fredamame. And only because it's almost five-thirty. They go to bed in half and hour. But I am dying to see what Spencer got us."

"Aw, I wanted you to open mine first." Carly pouted.

The couple opened their gifts and one by one said goodbye to their friends who shared their happy day with them. The next morning, after their first night as a married couple in their own home, they left for their wedding trip.

 **Alright, so we've got one chapter and maybe a wrap-up to go. Thanks for sticking with me on this Seddie ride.**


	25. Chapter 25 - Babies and the future

**Alright, guys this is going to wrap up the story. Now that we have Sam and Freddie married and having kids of their own, it's time to say they definitely have their happily ever after. Read on and see how things end up for them.**

Chapter 25

Sam and Freddie returned from their honeymoon trip late the next Thursday afternoon.

"So how are Mr. & Mrs. Benson?" Monica Shay asked while her husband went upstairs to tell David his parents had arrived.

"Couldn't be better." Sam replied, sitting down on the couch next to Freddie. "Except this stupid morning sickness. I swear, it was horrible the whole time we were in Canada."

"I keep trying to tell her it's because of all the rich food you were eating." Freddie shook his head. "Especially all the Canadian bacon at breakfast."

"Do you hear him trying to tell me my girls aren't going to like Canadian bacon?"

He put his arm around her shoulders and made a suggestion. "No baby, not saying that at all. But just maybe with the two of them in there getting bigger every day, your system would be a better off with something a little more, shall we say, less greasy. Something a little easier to digest, maybe something with some fiber or something green."

Sam made a gaggy face.

"I hate to say it, but he might be right. You know how much I love bacon and sausage, which is really ironic because I was raised Jewish, but I couldn't touch the stuff when I was carrying either of my kids." Monica agreed. "My mother tried to tell me it was because I wasn't keeping my family's faith or some crap. But, seriously, it was like, my whole last trimester, I could hardly even eat any kind of meat at all."

"Aw, crabs! First I start to swell up like some kind of road killed beach ball, now you tell me I'm going to be stuck eating salads for three months. Dude, what the chiz did you do to me?" Sam shoved Freddie away from her.

Freddie just looked at her funny.

"The hormone swings are bad enough but I can't go that long without meat. My brain will get all soft and I'll start acting like Cat Valentine. Hi-ii! I'm Cat. I like pink sweaters, dying my hair red and purple giraffes. Do you know how to use a toaster? That thing confuses me." Sam tried to do her Cat imitation by talking in a high-pitch.

"Daddy!" Little David ran across the room from the steps toward his father.

"Hey, Buddy." Freddie hugged the kid. "Did you have fun staying here?"

The boy nodded and turned to Sam and hugged her. "Can I ask you a question?" He said quietly.

Sam nodded. "Anything, kiddo."

"Do I still have to call you Aunt Sam, or can I call you Mommy, now?"

"Aw, Sweetheart, you can call me anything you like." Sam replied and hugged the kid again, trying to hold back a tear. Those pregnancy hormones were definitely making her a little more emotional than usual. That this child waited anxiously to be able to call her mom, made Sam realize that she wasn't just going to be a great mother to her own kids, but she already was to him.

"Just don't call her late for dinner." Spencer cracked. "Or breakfast. Or if there's pudding."

"Ha. Ha. That's so original." Sam told the artist dryly, still hugging the kid. "I missed you, Buddy. And I'd love it if you could call me mom."

"Come on, you two. I think we need to get home. Tomorrow's a school day and I'm sure there's a ton of mail to go through."

"Ah, the mail can wait, Frednuts. We need to hit the grocery store. I'm sure there's nothing in the house to eat. And we need to swing by Chick'n Hut. Mama needs some fried chicken."

"And here I thought we'd all stop for an early dinner at the Chinese buffet." Freddie smiled. "It's rib night."

"Ribs it is! Well, thanks for keeping David." Sam said to Monica and Spencer as she jumped up and quickly headed for the door. "Don't forget, I want you guys to come over for Sunday dinner. I have this huge beef roast I want to thaw out."

* * *

Over the next months, the twins' due date drew closer and, as promised, Carly returned to Seattle for their birth. Her job allowed her to take a couple of weeks off to spend with Sam.

"Are you sure it wasn't a real contraction?" Carly worried as her and Sam sat at the Bensons' kitchen table eating frozen yogurt at three in the morning. "You've been having pains since you got up this morning and the babies were due days ago."

"Nah. I've been having these false labor pains for a couple of weeks now. The doctor said it's normal. From what I hear I'll know it when the actual labor starts."

"I'm beginning to think Freddie's mom was right, Benson babies have a longer gestation period." Carly giggled.

"Yeah, well you know how Marissa is. She probably willed herself to keep Freddie in there for an extra two months because she couldn't let go. I mean, she confessed to me that breast-fed him till he was four for God's sake." Sam agreed.

"You know that's physically impossible, right? Babies can't stay in there for as long as she claims."

Sam shook her head. "Well I'm beginning to think this pair's going to stay on board until Christmas."

"Sam? Is everything alright?" Freddie worried as he approached the kitchen, wearing his typical sleeping attire, boxers and a t-shirt. "When I woke up and you weren't in bed I got worried." He had come down stairs in search of her and saw the light on in the kitchen. He Couldn't hear the girls talking quietly.

"Aw, geez, what are you doing up, Carls?" He asked and tried to cover his lower body by standing behind the breakfast bar.

"Relax, Freddie. I've seen you in your boxers before." Carly rolled her eyes.

"Everything's fine, Freddie. Just false contractions. I couldn't sleep anyway." Sam continued to dig into the fro-yo. "Hey, shouldn't you be trying to sleep, too. You get up for work in two hours."

"Only when I'm going into the office." He replied and took a seat beside his wife. "I'm on paternity leave, remember? Telecommuting for the next two months. Mind if I have a little of that?"

Sam fed him a spoon full of the cold treat. "You get one bite, the rest is ours."

"Gah. Coconut!" He make a funny face. "Why are you eating coconut fro-yo. You hate coconut worse than I do.."

"It's not so bad." Sam shrugged. "It's cold and sweet and since I can't eat bacon, I have to eat something."

"Don't worry, baby. As soon as the twins are born, I'm sure you'll be eating anything you want again."

"I sure hope so."

He kissed the top of her head. "I'm going back to bed."

Two days later and Sam finally felt what she thought were real contractions and after more than fifteen hours of labor, the twins were born. Ally was first, and less than 30 minutes later, Lilly. Both were deemed healthy and perfect and even though she was still tired and sore Sam was more than ready to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.

Of course, Freddie spent the night in Sam's hospital room until the time came for her and the girls to be discharged. Carly kept the house in order and, with the help of Marissa, looked after David for the three days until his parents and sisters came home.

"They're so little." David said, peering into the girls' cribs as Carly laid Ally down from feeding a few days later.

"Yes they are." Carly agreed. "So tiny and so cute. Just makes me want one of my own. Some day."

"You wouldn't say that if you went through what I just did. They sure didn't feel little on the way out." Sam replied from her chair in the corner of the nursery which was set up in David's former play room. "My crotch feels like it's on fire five days later."

"Still beats a C-section." Carly told her. "Monica was laid up for weeks after both of hers."

"I remember, she couldn't even go steps. Good thing there's an elevator in their apartment." Freddie replied from the doorway. "Come on, David. Time to get ready for bed."

"Why do I have to go to bed so early, I'm a big brother now. My bedtime should be at least an hour later."

"Hah! Don't think so, kiddo." Said told him. "As long as it's a school day, you still go to bed at eight. And after all the excitement around here the last week, it should be a half hour earlier."

"Aunt Carly left me stay up until nine." David informed his parents.

"Hey! Thanks for ratting me out." Carly huffed. "That was supposed to be our secret."

"So, I was thinking. It's time for me to get back in the kitchen. How about a nice big breakfast tomorrow. You know, waffles, scrambled eggs, sausage, fried potatoes."

"Sam, don't you think it's a little soon to be standing in the kitchen cooking all morning?" Carly asked.

"Well, maybe if you guys give me a hand it would go quicker. Besides, I want to see how real food works for my system."

"You did alright with the meatballs last night." He reminded her.

"And the fried chicken you had me sneak in while you were still in the hospital." Carly agreed.

"That was chicken and meatballs, this is sausage. Far more important. Like, the first step on the way to eating bacon, and more importantly, ham again."

"I still can't believe you didn't insist on some kind of pork as soon as the girls were out of your belly." The brunette helped Sam to her feet as she stood up to leave the nursery.

"How about a couple bags of microwave popcorn and some TV time?" Sam suggested. "You're making me hungry."

"And here I thought you'd be ready to turn in. You need your rest, Sam."

"What I need is a snack."

* * *

By the time their girls were turned three, Sam had just began her second full year of teaching and Freddie was now a senior software developer at his company, supervising several teams of engineers. Sam had been thinking about the subject of another child for a while now. With Carly' just telling them about her own pregnancy, the opportunity to discuss the subject with Freddie had presented itself.

"I can't believe Carly's finally having a kid." Sam remarked as they were preparing for bed one evening.

"I know. She's practically been afraid of the whole idea for years."

"Right. And being there while I was in labor didn't help matters any."

"You've done your best to let her under the impression you were in agony the whole time."

"I was. You try to pull a grapefruit out of your nostril and see how it feels. With your low threshold for pain, it's a good thing you'll never experience anything like childbirth. You complain when you have a solid poop. My girly parts felt like they were stomped on by a horse for months."

Freddie just shook his head. He distinctly remembered her pressuring him for sex long before the six week waiting period her doctor advised was up. And enjoying herself.

"You ever think about us having more?" She simply asked. "We're not getting any younger, the girls are three and David's almost nine. I don't want to be like some of those moms I see at school and still be popping out kids when I'm in my forties."

"What are you trying to say?" He gently touched her stomach. "Is there something you need to want to tell me? Are you . . . "

Sam scoffed at his implication. "Psh! No. I'm not. But it's just that . . . I think I might want to try." She put her arms around him.

"Well, we practice, like every other day." He said with a smirk, grabbing her butt from their position of holding each other. They had never managed to get over their desires for each other. "We shouldn't have to try very hard."

"Yeah, we do it a lot, but I mean really try, doofus. Quit taking the pills, get in a routine, make sure we do it at the right time of the month. The whole deal."

"I guess, and by the time another kid gets here the twins should be out of diapers. Heck they might even be close to starting school."

"Right. Like it'll take that long. You're little swimmers are pretty powerful. I'll probably get knocked up the third time we do it once I'm off the pill."

"Just have to wait and see. What about work and all? You just started your second year."

"Don't get me wrong, I like teaching, but I was sort of thinking that maybe after this time, I might just try working part time. Maybe sign up to be a sub or something. I didn't like having to put the girls in day care when they were so little. I could always go back full time after number four starts school."

"Whatever makes you happy my dear." He placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "I've always told you, you don't need to feel like you have to work. But do you think since we're getting ready for bed and neither of us really seems all that sleepy, we could um, well . . . ?"

"Since you brought it up, I suppose we could slip in a little more practice."

 **You can decide for yourself how long it took them to make another baby.**

 **This has been a really fun story to write and I thank everyone for coming along on the ride. Certainly turned out a heckuva lot longer than I thought it would when I started it.**

 **I have been given an idea for a story by a faithful reader that I'm thinking about and working on. It might be a while before it gets posted, but if I get an inspiration for a one shot or something fluffy in the meantime I'll put it up.**


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